NATURAL  RESOURCES 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


BY 
JACOB  HARRIS   RATION,  A. M.,  PH.D. 

If 

Author  of  "Four  Hundred  Years  of  American  History"  f 

"Political  Economy  for  American  Toutb  "  ,•  "Political 

Parties  in  the  United  States  "  ,•  "Popular  History 

of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 


REVISED,  WITH  ADDITIONS,  UP  TO  DATE 


PUBLISHED,   1899,  BY 

D.   APPLETON   AND   COMPANY,   NEW  YORK 
LONDON:  25  BEDFORD  STREET,  COVENT  GARDEN 


103 


,  1888   i<3<?i,  ;     ; 
BY  D.  AK°LETON  AND  COMPANY. 


ELECTROTYPED  AND  PRINTED 
AT  THE  APPLETON  PRESS,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE. 


THE  intention  of  this  volume  is  to  give  the 
American  people  a  concise  narrative  of  the  natural 
resources  of  their  own  country,  in  all  their  numerous 
forms.  Only  four  classes  of  these  treasures  have 
been  written  upon — the  precious  metals,  coal,  iron, 
and  petroleum.  The  present  view  is  designed  to  be 
comprehensive  and  sufficiently  full  on  each  resource ; 
it  proposes  to  give  an  account  only  of  the  materials 
found  in  Nature,  and  on  which  are  based  the  in- 
dustry and  the  physical  comfort  of  the  people. 
"  The  original  source  of  wealth  is  the  bounty  of  God 
in  Nature."  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  vol- 
ume to  give  information  in  respect  to  the  using  of 
these  sources  of  wealth,  such  as  of  the  means  of 
transportation  or  of  manufacturing,  and  yet  it  has 
occasionally  related  incidents  connected  with  such 
beginnings — the  latter  being  a  class  of  information 
that  would  interest  the  intelligent  reader. 

The  question  arises,  Is  it  possible,  in  a  book  of  523 
pages,  to  give  a  satisfactory  account  of  these  re- 
sources ?  In  the  volumes  published  on  the  precious 

M78839 


iv  Preface. 

metals,  and  on  coal  and  iron,  more  than  nine  tenths 
of  their  pages  are  taken  up  in  giving  details  of  the 
means  of  transportation,  and  of  mining  companies 
and  their  operations.  Such  information  is  valuable 
to  the  practical  miner  or  railway  manager,  but  is  of 
little  interest  or  profit  to  the  general  reader.  On 
the  contrary,  that  these  treasures  are  stored  in  the 
earth  to  confer  blessings  upon  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  not  only  at  the  present  time,  but  for 
generations  to  come,  is  a  truth  recognized  and  ap- 
preciated by  every  intelligent  man  and  woman  in 
the  land,  as  in  this  bounty  of  Nature  they  all  have  an 
interest. 

These  resources  are  remarkable  for  their  vast- 
ness  ;  but  equally  striking  has  been  that  providen- 
tial care  which  provided,  under  such  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances, a  Christian  people — lovers  of  liberty, 
civil  and  religious — to  occupy  this  goodly  land,  and, 
by  their  energy  and  industry,  bring  into  practical  use 
these  varied  treasures.  (See  History  of  the  American 
People^ 

It  is  a  common  error,  at  first  thought,  to  reckon 
gold  and  silver  as  the  most  important  source  of  the 
wealth  of  the  Nation;  though  they  are  far  tran- 
scended in  value  by  the  coal  and  the  iron,  while  the 
latter  two  are  fully  as  far  surpassed  in  worth  by  the 
fertile  soil,  the  rainfall,  and  the  sunshine.  It  is  not 
strange  that  these  errors  exist,  since  the  attention 
of  the  American  people  has  never  been  directed  to 
a  comprehensive  and  a  comparative  view  of  all  the 


Preface.  v 

varied  and  immense  resources  with  which  the  Crea- 
tor has  endowed  their  land.  In  this  volume,  full  out- 
lines are  given  of  these  treasures,  in  their  numerous 
forms,  their  amount  and  characteristics,  in  order 
that  the  intelligent  reader  may  have  a  definite  view 
of  the  whole. 

In  preparing  this  work  the  author  was  greatly 
encouraged  by  the  unusual  interest  manifested  in  his 
effort  to  lay  before  the  American  people  a  summary 
of  their  native  wealth.  For  instance,  thirty-one  Gov- 
ernors, of  the  thirty-two  invited,  responded  liberally 
to  the  request  for  information  in  respect  to  the  vari- 
ous resources  of  each  one's  State  or  Territory  ;  in  a 
similar  manner  was  he  aided  by  the  Interior  Depart- 
ment at  Washington.  Special  thanks  are  due  to 
Prof.  David  T.  Day,  of  that  department,  in  furnish- 
ing the  author,  in  advance  of  their  publication,  a  sum- 
mary of  the  output,  etc.,  of  the  year  1886:  the  latter 
will  be  found  in  the  tabulated  column  for  that  year 
at  the  end  of  the  volume.  The  Governors  sent  in  all 
ninety -four  volumes,  ranging  in  size  from  1,180  pages 
down  to  a  dozen  or  more,  in  pamphlets,  besides  a 
number  of  manuscript  letters  from  officials  supply- 
ing deficiencies.  In  addition  were  numerous  letters 
and  items  on  the  subject  from  other  authentic  sources. 
Due  credit  is  given  in  the  body  of  the  work  to  the  au- 
thorities consulted. 

The  author  hopes  that,  by  means  of  the  facilities 
thus  afforded,  he  has  been  able  to  put  in  form  an  ac- 
count of  the  subject  so  fully  as  to  meet  the  wants  of 


vi  Preface. 

the  general  reader  and  student.  He  has  endeavored 
to  cover  the  entire  field,  as  these  resources  do  not  in- 
crease, and  only  diminish  as  the  people  utilize  them  : 
in  consequence,  when  once  described  and  located,  the 
work  needs  no  further  extension,  except  in  case  of 
new  discoveries,  when  an  account  of  such  will  be 
promptly  inserted.  The  volume  has  a  complete  in- 
dex, which  is  so  essential  to  the  convenience  of  the 
reader  or  student. 

Attention  is  occasionally  directed  to  the  immense 
value  of  the  natural  resources  of  the  United  States, 
when  compared  with  those  of  other  countries. 
TRUTH  is  NOT  A  BRAGGART,  and  it  is  proper  that 
the  fact  in  this  relation  should  be  known,  that  the 
American  people,  especially  the  younger  portion, 
may  appreciate  more  fully  the  natural  advantages 
of  their  own  country. 

J.  H.  P. 

NEW  YORK  CITY,  January,  i8gg. 


CO  NTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION i 

A  panoramic  view,  2  ;  Utility  of  these  mountains,  4. 

I, 
COAST-LINE .  .5 

Maritime  nations,  5  ;  Comparison  of  coast-lines,  6  ;  United 
States  Geodetic  Survey,  7. 

II. 

COAL 10 

The  value  of  coal,  10;  The  Carboniferous  age,  n  ;  The  pecul- 
iar vegetation,  12  ;  Comparison  of  forests  and  temperature, 
14 ;  Reference  to  geology,  17  ;  The  great  basins,  18  ;  The  in- 
ternal movements,  18. 

III. 

MINOR  COAL-FIELDS 21 

Virginia  and  North  Carolina  coals,  22  ;  Piedmont  and  Dan 
River,  23  ;  Virginia  anthracite,  23  ;  Deep  and  New  River,  25. 

IV. 

THE  ALLEGHANY  ANTHRACITE  COAL-FIELD     ...    27 

The  anthracite  area,  27  ;  The  parallel  movement,  28  ;  Pennsyl- 
vania anthracite,  29 ;  Discovery  of  this  coal,  29 ;  Incidents, 
31  ;  The  speculators,  32  ;  The  Schuylkill  coal-field,  33  ;  The 
Mammoth  seam,  35  ;  The  Middle  coal-field,  36 ;  Wyoming 
and  Lackawanna,  37  ;  The  outlook,  39  ;  The  enterprise,  39  ; 
The  great  Eastern  valley,  40. 


viii  Contents. 


v. 
SEMI-BITUMINOUS  COAL-FIELDS 42 

The  basins  from  Blossburg  to  Broad  Top,  43  ;  Johnstown,  45  ; 
The  Cumberland  coal-field,  46. 

VI. 
THE  ALLEGHANY  BITUMINOUS  COAL-FIELD      .  .48 

The  lower  bed  of  the  Ohio,  48  ;  Rivers  and  valleys,  50 ;  The 
great  basin  drained,  51  ;  The  Pittsburg  coal-field  and  seam, 
52  ;  Horizontal  seams — Monongahela  Valley,  54  ;  Coal  be- 
neath the  Pittsburg  seam,  55  ;  The  characteristic  change,  56  ; 
The  two  questions,  57  ;  Excellence  of  the  coke,  58  ;  West 
Virginia  coal-field,  59  ;  Albertite,  a  vein  of  asphaltum,  60  ; 
Eastern  Kentucky  coal-field,  60 ;  also  Tennessee,  61  ;  Ala- 
bama, 62  ;  Georgia,  63  ;  Ohio,  64. 

VII. 

THE  CENTRAL  COAL-FIELD 66 

Block-coal,  66  ;  How  utilized,  68  ;  Illinois  coal-field  :  its  block- 
coal,  69  ;  Western  Kentucky  coal-field,  70  ;  Michigan,  71  ; 
Iowa,  72  ;  Missouri,  73  ;  Kansas,  74  ;  Nebraska,  75  ;  Arkan- 
sas, 76  ;  Texas ;  Indian  Territory,  77  ;  Extent  of  the  pure 
Carboniferous  coal,  78. 

VIII. 

LIGNITE,  OR  BROWN  COAL 80 

The  marsh-basin — the  plain,  81  ;  Ferns  and  carbon,  82  ;  Char- 
acteristics and  extent  of  lignites,  83  ;  Dakota ;  Montana,  83  ; 
Wyoming  lignites,  84 ;  Idaho  asphalt,  87  ;  Colorado,  88  ; 
Utah,  89  ;  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  lignites,  90. 

IX. 

PACIFIC  COAL-FIELDS 92 

Diablo  coal-field,  93  ;  Coos  Bay,  94  ;  Seattle,  95  ;  Bellingham 
Bay,  95  ;  The  coast  outcrop,  96  ;  Alaska  coal-field,  97. 

X. 

COAL-FIELDS   OF  THE   DOMINION 98 

Coal  of  the  Northwest,  98  ;  Nova  Scotia  coal-field,  99  ;  Albert- 
ite, 99  ;  Pictou  mines,  100  ;  Sydney  mines,  101. 


Contents.  ix 


XI. 

THE  COAL  OF  EUROPE  COMPARED  WITH  THAT  OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES 102 

Coal  areas,  102  ;  A  special  comparison,  103  ;  Horizontal  seams 
and  the  dip,  105  ;  How  long  will  the  coal  last  ?  106. 

XII. 

PETROLEUM     .  .        .  108 

Origin  of  petroleum,  109  ;  Petroleum,  where  found,  no;  Rocky 
Mountain  oil,  112  ;  Wyoming  oil,  112  ;  California,  113  ;  As- 
phaltum,  114. 

XIII. 
NATURAL  GAS        .  .115 

Utilizing  the  gas,  116  ;  Are  the  stores  of  gas  exhaustible?  117  ; 
Where  it  is  found,  118. 

XIV. 
IRON-ORES .120 

Theories  as  to  the  origin  of  iron,  120  ;  Names  of  iron-ores,  121 ; 
New  England  iron-ores,  122  ;  The  great  iron-ore  belt,  123  ; 
Iron-ores :  New  York,  125  ;  New  Jersey,  126  ;  Pennsylvania, 
126  ;  Virginia,  127  ;  North  Carolina,  128  ;  South  Carolina, 
129  ;  East  Tennessee,  129  ;  Alabama,  131  ;  Georgia.  131  ; 
Kentucky — Ironton,  132  ;  West  Virginia,  133  ;  Johnstown, 
134  ;  Chestnut  Ridge,  135  ;  Ohio — Mahoning  Valley,  136  ; 
Michigan,  136 ;  Wisconsin,  138  ;  Minnesota,  138  ;  Missouri, 
139  ;  Iron  Mountain,  140 ;  Pilot  Knob,  141 ;  Texas,  142  ; 
Arkansas,  142 ;  New  Mexico,  143. 

XV. 

IRON  IN  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS 144 

Iron-ores :  Colorado,  144  ;  Utah,  144 ;  Wyoming,  145  ;  Califor- 
nia, 146  ;  Oregon,  147  ;  Washington  Territory,  147. 

XVI. 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  IRON 148 

Spiegeleisen,  149  ;  The  change  in  iron,  149  ;  The  Bessemer 
process,  150;  Manganese,  153;  Discoveries  of  Manganese- 
ores,  154  ;  Manganese  on  the  Pacific  slope,  156  ;  Spiegel-iron 
and  ferro-manganese,  157  ;  Duties  due  to  future  generations, 

158. 


Contents. 


XVII. 

GOLD 160 

Characteristics  of  gold,  160 ;  Gold  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  161  ; 
North  Carolina,  162  ;  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  163  ;  Cali- 
fornia gold,  164  ;  The  migration — inroads  of  foreigners,  165  ; 
The  location,  166  ;  Beach-mining,  167  ;  Placer-mining,  168  ; 
Quartz-mining,  169;  The  Outlook,  170;  Gold:  Idaho,  170; 
Montana,  171 ;  Oregon,  172  ;  Washington  Territory,  172  ; 
Wyoming,  172  ;  Utah  and  Colorado,  173  ;  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico,  174  ;  Alaska,  175. 

XVIII. 

SILVER 176 

Nevada  silver,  177  ;  The  Comstock  Lode,  177  ;  Sutro  Tunnel, 
179  ;  Liberal  mining  laws,  179  ;  Leadville  silver-mines,  180  ; 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  181  ;  Old  mines  reopened,  182  ; 
Tombstone,  183  ;  Lake  Valley,  184  ;  Other  mines  of  silver, 
186;  Utah,  i8'7  ;  Idaho,  187;  Wyoming,  187;  Pacific  coast 
silver,  188. 

XIX. 
QUICKSILVER,  OR  MERCURY 189 

New  Almaden,  189  ;  The  operation — how  conducted,  190  ;  The 
effect  on  gold-mining,  191. 

XX. 
COPPER 193 

Universality  of  copper,  194  ;  Atlantic  slope  copper,  194  ;  North 
Carolina,  196 ;  Tennessee — Georgia,  197  ;  Lake  Superior  cop- 
per, 197  ;  The  copper-fever,  198  ;  The  mound-builders  as 
miners,  199  ;  Process  of  mining,  201  ;  The  two  mines,  202  ; 
Isle  Royale,  203  ;  Wisconsin — Missouri,  204  ;  Texas,  205  ; 
Copper  in  the  Territories,  205  ;  Wyoming,  205  :  Dakota,  206  ; 
Montana,  207  ;  Idaho,  208  ;  New  Mexico,  208  ;  Arizona, 
209  ;  Pacific  slope  copper,  209  ;  Oregon,  210. 

XXI. 

LEAD .211 

Lead  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  211  ;  Western  lead-fields,  213; 
Lead-mining,  213  ;  Mound-builders  and  lead,  214  ;  Missouri 
and  Kansas,  215  ;  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  217  ;  Rocky 
Mountain  lead,  217  ;  Colorado  and  Utah,  218  ;  Montana  and 
Idaho,  218  ;  Demands  for  lead,  220. 


Contents.  xi 


XXII. 

ZINC        .       .       .  * 221 

The  great  zinc  deposit,  222  ;  Pennsylvania  zinc,  223  ;  Tennes- 
see zinc,  223  ;  Western  zinc,  223. 

XXIII. 

TIN .  226 

Tin,  when  discovered,  227  ;  Tin  in  the  United  States,  227  ;  Vir- 
ginia, 228  ;  Tin  in  the  Black  Hills,  229  ;  Placer-tin,  231  ;  The 
Etta  mine,  232  ;  Tin :  how  extracted,  233  ;  Wyoming  tin, 
234  ;  Idaho  and  Montana  tin,  235. 

XXIV. 
MINOR  METALS 236 

Chromium,  or  chrome,  236  ;  Platinum,  238  ;  Iridosmine,  239  ; 
Iridium,  240 ;  Nickel  and  cobalt,  241  ;  Their  deposits,  243  ; 
Antimony,  245  ;  On  Pacific  slope,  246  ;  Bismuth,  247  ;  Ar- 
senic, 249;  Alum,  249;  Aluminum,  251;  Deposit  of  alum- 
rock,  252  ;  Mica,  where  found,  253  ;  North  Carolina,  255  ; 
Rocky  Mountain  mica,  256  ;  California,  257  ;  Asbestos,  257. 

XXV. 
PRECIOUS  STONES 259 

Diamonds,  260  ;  Miscellaneous  stones,  261  ;  Emerald  and  beryl, 
261  ;  Hiddenite,  262  ;  Topaz,  262  ;  Sapphire  and  rubies,  262  ; 
Garnets,  263  ;  Tourmaline  and  obsidian,  263  ;  Amethyst,  264  ; 
Agate  and  chalcedony,  265  ;  Serpentine  (jeweler's),  265  ; 
Jade,  opal,  and  jasper,  266  ;  Jet,  267. 

XXVI. 

CLAYS 268 

Fire-clay,  268 ;  Kaolin,  270 ;  Mississippi  Valley  clays,  271  ; 
Rocky  Mountain,  272  ;  Porcelain,  273  ;  Glass  materials,  273  ; 
Lime  and  cement,  274. 

XXVII. 
BUILDING-STONE 276 

Characteristics  and  uses  of  stone,  276  ;  Marble,  277  ;  Sandstones, 
278  ;  Localities  of  building-stones,  279  ;  Granite  of  five  States, 
280 ;  Rocky  Mountain  granite,  281  ;  Pacific  slope,  282 ; 
Building-stones  whose  base  is  lime,  283  ;  Sandstone  and 
brown-stone,  286  ;  Blue-stone,  287  ;  Sandstones  of  the  valley, 
287  ;  The  amount  used,  288  ;  Slates,  289. 


xii  Contents. 

PAGE 

XXVIII. 
MARBLES  OF  FINER  GRADE 291 

Vermont  marbles,  291  ;  Southern,  292  ;  Serpentine,  292  ;  East 
Tennessee,  293  ;  Georgia,  Iowa,  and  Missouri  marbles,  294 ; 
Other  marbles,  295  ;  Malachite,  296. 

XXIX. 
ABRASIVE  MATERIALS 297 

Corundum  and  emery,  297  ;  Buhr-stones,  298  ;  Grindstones,  300 ; 
Michigan  stone,  301  ;  Whetstones,  302  ;  Lithographic  stone, 
303. 

XXX. 
GRAPHITE,  OR  PLUMBAGO 304 

Uses  to  which  applied,  304  ;  Where  found,  305  ;  Ticonderoga 
mine,  306  ;  Florida  cedar,  307. 

XXXI. 
SALT 308 

Where  found,  308  ;  New  York,  Warsaw,  Ithaca,  308  ;  Onon- 
daga  district,  309  ;  West  Virginia  and  Ohio,  310  ;  Michigan, 
311  ;  Great  Valley,  311  ;  Louisiana,  312  ;  Rocky  Mountains, 
313 ;  Texas,  314 ;  Utah  and  Arizona,  314 ;  Oregon  and 
Idaho,  315  ;  Nevada  rock-salt,  315  ;  California  salt,  316  ;  Bro- 
mine, 317 ;  Borax,  where  obtained,  318 ;  Saltpeter,  321 ; 
Sulphur,  322  ;  On  Pacific  slope,  323  ;  Alaska,  324  ;  Sulphuric 
acid,  324. 

XXXII. 

MINERAL  OR  MEDICINAL  SPRINGS 325 

New  England  springs,  325  ;  New  York  springs :  Saratoga,  326  ; 
Clifton,  Avon,  Richfield,  Lebanon,  327  ;  Pennsylvania  springs, 
328  ;  Cresson,  Gettysburg,  Fayette,  329  ;  West  Virginia,  329  ; 
Blue  Lick,  330 ;  Wisconsin  :  Bethesda  and  Clysmic,  330 ; 
Dakota  and  Arkansas  Hot  Springs,  331  ;  Pagosa,  331  ;  Mani- 
tou — Colorado  Springs,  332  ;  Glenwood  and  California,  333  ; 
Gilroy  Hot  Springs,  334. 

XXXIII. 

HEALTH-RESORTS 336 

East  of  the  Alleghanies,  337  ;  P'lorida  and  Covington,  338  ; 
Aiken,  339  ;  Asheville,  340  ;  Walden  Ridge,  341  ;  A  dry  and 
cold  climate,  341  ;  Altitude  and  sunshine,  342  ;  Utah  health- 


Contents.  xiii 

PAGE 

resorts,  344  ;  Asthma,  344  ;  A  balmy  climate  near  the  Pacific, 
344 ;  Yellowstone  Park,  346. 

XXXIV. 
RAINFALL — OCEAN-CURRENTS 348 

The  means  to  an  end,  349  ;  Currents  of  water  and  of  air,  350 ; 
Origin  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  351  ;  Effect  on  climate,  354  ;  The 
compensation,  354 ;  Sources  of  rainfall  in  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley, 356  ;  Trade-winds  deflected  northward,  357  ;  The  Gulf  a 
source  of  rainfall,  358  ;  Course  of  Arctic  winds,  360  ;  Com- 
parison of  river-valleys,  362  ;  also  of  plains,  363  ;  Comparison 
of  continents,  364  ;  Direction  of  mountains,  365  ;  The  absence 
of  deserts,  366  ;  The  Great  American  Desert,  367  ;  The  Andes 
and  the  Rockies,  368. 

XXXV. 
CLIMATE  OF  THE  NORTHWEST     .        .        .        .        .        .  369 

Origin  of  the  Japan  current,  369  ;  Its  beneficial  effects,  371  ; 
The  coast  climate,  372  ;  The  region  benefited,  372  ;  Com- 
parisons of  temperature,  374  ;  The  interior  climate,  376. 

XXXVI. 
THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY 378 

The  value  of  the  valley,  378  ;  The  rapid  settlement,  379  ;  Rain- 
fall and  temperature,  380 ;  On  Atlantic  and  Pacific  slopes, 
381  ;  Average  rainfall  in  Europe  compared  with  that  of  the 
territorial  center  of  the  United  States,  382  ;  The  soil  of  the 
high  plains,  384 ;  Mistakes  of  explorers,  384 ;  The  native 
grass  resource,  387  ;  The  discovery,  387. 

XXXVII. 
IRRIGATION 389 

Deficiency  of  rain  supplied,  390 ;  The  canals,  391  ;  The  effects 
produced,  392  ;  Suggestions  of  the  Interior  Department,  394. 

XXXVIII. 
THE  FOOD  AREA— WHEAT  BELT 395 

The  Northern  wheat  belt,  396  ;  Wheat :  its  adaptability,  396  ; 
The  effect  of  sunlight,  397  ;  Its  long  continuance,  398  ;  Wheat 
in  the  Great  Valley,  398  ;  Large  or  small  farms,  399 ;  Indian 
corn,  400  ;  Extent  of  crops  compared,  401  ;  Rice-culture,  403  ; 
Sugar  area,  404. 


xiv  Contents. 

PAGE 

XXXIX. 

FIBERS — MISCELLANIES 406 

Cotton  area,  406  ;  Grades  of  cotton,  407  ;  Hemp,  jute,  ramie, 
flax,  407  ;  Tobacco,  409  ;  Potato,  410 ;  Peanut,  410  ;  Hops, 
411 ;  Broom-corn  and  peppermint,  412. 

XL. 

TIMBER .        .413 

Extent  of  forests,  414  ;  Pacific  slope  trees,  416  ;  Specimens  col- 
lected, 417  ;  Middle  belt  of  trees,  418  ;  Chestnut,  hickory, 
oaks,  ash,  walnut,  419  ;  Northern  belt  of  trees,  420  ;  Southern 
belt  of  trees,  422 ;  Varieties  of  trees,  423  ;  Southern  pines, 
424  ;  Tennessee  and  'Kentucky  forests,  426  ;  Tan-bark,  426  ; 
Canaigre,  427. 

XLI. 
GRASSES 429 

Varieties  of  grasses,  430  ;  Timothy,  white  and  red  clover,  430  ; 
Grasses  amid  the  pines,  431  ;  Blue-grass,  432  ;  Buffalo-grass, 
433  J  Other  native  grasses,  434  ;  Alfalfa,  437. 

XLII. 
ORCHARD-FRUITS 439 

The  apple  belt,  440  ;  Johnny  Appleseed,  441  ;  The  peach,  443  ; 
The  peach  in  the  West,  444  ;  Pears,  plums,  cherries,  quinces, 
445  ;  The  orange,  446  ;  Its  localities,  447  ;  Louisiana  orange, 
448  ;  California  orange,  449  ;  Minor  sub-tropical  fruits,  450. 

XLIII. 
THE  GRAPE — THE  GARDEN-FRUITS 452 

The  special  grape  belt,  453  ;  Locations  of  vineyards,  455  ;  Rai- 
sins, 456  ;  Wines,  457  ;  Small  fruits,  457  ;  Berries  for  birds  of 
passage,  458  ;  Northern  wild  berries,  459 ;  Lawton  black- 
berry, 460  ;  The  strawberry,  460 ;  The  melon,  461  ;  Effects 
of  fast  trains,  462  ;  Fruits  can  be  improved,  462. 

XLIV. 

FERTILIZERS 464 

Marl,  465  ;  Animal  remains,  465  ;  Extent  of  marl  area,  466  ; 
Phosphate-rock,  467  ;  South  and  North  Carolina  and  Florida 
phosphates,  469  ;  Maryland  and  Delaware  marls,  469  ;  New 


Contents. 


xv 


PAGE 

Jersey  marls,  470  ;  Gypsum,  470  ;  Where  found — Alabaster, 
472  ;  Michigan  gypsum,  472  ;  The  workings  in  mines,  474  ; 
Rocky  Mountain  gypsum,  474 ;  Pacific  coast  gypsum,  475  ; 
Importance  of  fertilizers,  476. 


XLV. 
OCEAN  RESOURCES 478 

Our  ocean-fishing  area,  479  ;  Discovery  of  cod,  479  ;  Mackerel, 
480 ;  Utility  of  ice,  480 ;  Fishing  localities,  481  ;  The  shad, 
482  ;  Fish  of  the  South  Atlantic,  483  ;  Pacific  fisheries,  485  ; 
The  barracuda  and  ocean-pickerel,  485  ;  The  salmon,  486  ; 
Puget  Sound  and  Alaska,  487  ;  Fish'in  the  Great  Lakes,  488  ; 
Fish-culture,  489 ;  Oysters  and  clams,  490 ;  Lobsters,  491  ; 
Oysters  in  Long  Island  Sound,  492  ;  In  Chesapeake  Bay, 
493  ;  In  the  Gulf,  495  ;  Oysters  and  clams  in  the  North- 
west, 495  ;  Green-turtle  fishing,  496  ;  Sponge-fishing,  496  ; 
Coral-fishery,  497. 

XLVI. 
FUR-BEARING  SEALS— WILD  GAME 498 

Efforts  to  preserve  the  seals,  499  ;  Peculiarities  of  this  seal,  500  ; 
Wild  game,  502  ;  Wild  animals  and  birds,  503  ;  The  turkey, 
503  ;  Canvas-back  duck,  504 ;  Migrations,  505  ;  Game-food 
in  Virginia  and  Minnesota,  506. 

XLVII. 

RESOURCE  IN  WATER-POWER^-IN  LAND  .  .  .  .508 
The  Merrimac  and  the  Connecticut,  509  ;  Other  water-powers, 
509  ;  The  Tennessee,  510 ;  A  continent  of  cheap  lands,  511  ; 
Mistakes  as  to  the  soil,  etc.,  of  the  Great  Plains,  511 ;  Rain- 
fall:  its  gradual  increase,  512  ;  Cause  of  the  increase,  513  ; 
How  homesteads  are  obtained,  515  ;  Land-grants  and  rail- 
ways, 516  ;  Results  of  the  homestead  law,  518. 


The  original  source  of  wealth  is  the  bounty  of  God  in  Nature. 

DR.  FRANCIS  WAYLAND. 

The  material  prosperity  of  the  United  States  is  based  upon  the 
development  of  the  resources  with  which  they  are  so  richly  en- 
dowed. 

Nature  spontaneously  furnishes  the  matter  of  which  all  com- 
modities are  made.  McCuLLOCH. 

Nature  does  more  than  supply  materials  ;  she  also  supplies 
powers.  JOHN  STUART  MILL. 


THE     NATURAL     RESOURCES 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


INTRODUCTION. 

THE  territory  of  the  United  States,  exclusive  of 
Alaska,  may  be  characterized  as  a  land  with  a  sunny 
exposure,  as  the  belt  of  the  continent  thus  occupied, 
and  which  extends  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
greets  the  sun  by  facing  the  south.  Under  laws  in- 
stituted by  the  Creator,  and  which  govern  the  air 
when  in  motion,  the  winds  near  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  being  colder  and  heavier,  when  not  interrupted, 
flow  from  the  north  toward  the  south,  where,  becom- 
ing warmer,  and  in  consequence  lighter,  they  float 
upward,  thus  producing  a  partial  vacuum,  and  keep 
continuously  restoring  the  equilibrium  by  returning, 
in  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  from  the 
south  toward  the  north.  This  circulation  of  the  air 
secures  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  the  blessings 
of  a  climate  having,  it  is  true,  a  varied  temperature, 
but  graduated  in  such  manner  as  to  invigorate  the 
human  constitution.  No  such  movement  of  the  winds 
could  occur  uniformly  in  an  east  and  west  direction 
round  the  globe,  since  on  the  same  parallels  of  lati- 


2     Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States, 


is  always  nearly  the  same,  and, 
A  t  &J  i-ke.J[a.w£ -of  .Nature  just  noted,  there  could  never 
»  **•  I  £3CiSt:t£x&n*T  £^£pfc"-2.3*artial  vacuum  or  an  equilibrium 
to  be  restored ;  in  consequence,  the  variations  in  the 
winds — east  and  west — that  may  happen  on  any  par- 
allel, are  due  to  local  causes.  These  free  movements 
of  the  atmosphere,  north  and  south,  are  not  inter- 
rupted in  the  United  States  by  mountain-ranges  run- 
ning east  and  west,  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  run  in 
a  northerly  and  southerly  direction,  nor  are  they  for 
the  most  part  so  high  as  to  prevent  the  surplusage 
of  clouds  loaded  with  moisture  from  passing  over 
from  one  slope  of  a  mountain-range  to  the  other. 

The  Panoramic  View. — To  have  a  panoramic 
view  of  the  territory  of  the  Union,  let  the  spectator 
imagine  himself  sufficiently  high  in  the  air  directly 
above  the  point  where,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the 
Tropic  of  Cancer  intersects  the  ninety-first  or  the 
fourteenth  meridian.  Directly  north  would  be  in 
view  the  Mississippi  River,  with  its  head-fountain 
near  the  northern  boundary ;  he  would  also  recog- 
nize on  both  its  sides,  east  and  west,  numerous  tribu- 
taries, hastening  in  a  more  or  less  southerly  direction 
to  mingle  their  waters  with  those  of  the  great  river. 
The  impression  made  upon  his  mind  of  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  would  be  near  akin  to  that  of  a 
vast  landscape-painting,  tilted  on  the  north  side  and 
facing  the  sun ;  framed  on  the  east  by  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Rockies. 

To  the  northeast  he  would  see  the  shore  of  the 


Introduction.  3 

Atlantic,  while  almost  parallel  to  it  would  be  in  view 
the  range  of  the  Alleghanies  ;  the  latter,  commencing 
in  foot-hills  within  one  or  two  hundred  miles  of  the 
north  shore  of  the  Gulf,  and  extending  northeast  for 
a  thousand  miles  or  more.  Still  northeast  of  their 
termination  would  be  seen  the  Catskills,  and  yet 
farther  north  the  Adirondacks,  stretching  from  the 
Mohawk  to  the  St.  Lawrence ;  and  east  of  the  latter 
would  come  in  view  the  range  of  the  Green  Mount- 
ains, while  to  their  northeast  would  appear  the  White, 
not  in  a  regular  range,  but  solitary  and  alone,  stand- 
ing in  separate  masses,  though  proudly  looming 
higher  than  their  neighbors. 

To  the  northwest,  but  much  farther  from  the 
Pacific  than  are  the  Alleghanies  from  the  Atlantic, 
come  in  view  the  Rocky  Mountains — the  backbone 
of  the  continent — commencing  near  the  shore  of  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  and  stretching  southeasterly  through 
the  British  possessions  and  across  the  United  States 
into  Mexico,  on  their  way  to  Patagonia.  On  the 
parallel  of  40°  the  Rockies  are  distant  from  the 
Alleghanies  nearly  fifteen  hundred  miles.  West  of 
the  former — more  than  six  hundred  miles  distant — 
appear  the  Sierra  Nevada,  in  their  northern  portion 
called  the  Cascades;  and  still  nearer  the  Pacific,  and 
parallel  with  it,  come  in  sight  a  series  of  highlands, 
known  as  the  Coast  Range.  Between  the  latter  two 
are  extensive  and  remarkably  fertile  valleys,  while 
the  Great  American  Basin  lies  between  the  Rockies 
and  the  Sierra  Nevada. 


4     Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Utility  of  these  Mountains. — The  mountains  of 
the  United  States  are  by  no  means  waste ;  they  ex- 
ert an  influence  in  the  economy  of  Nature  that  in- 
creases the  fruitfulness  of  the  surrounding  region, 
and  also  in  various  ways  promotes  the  general 
healthfulness  of  the  inhabitants.  In  the  West  they 
are  nearly  all  storehouses  of  the  precious  and  other 
metals,  or  covered  with  forests,  except  the  highest 
points  of  the  Rockies  or  the  Sierra  Nevada ;  while  in 
the  East  the  White,  the  Green,  the  Adirondacks,  and 
the  Catskills  are  covered  for  the  most  part  with 
valuable  forests,  though  not  specially  rich  in  min- 
erals, except  the  southwest  spur  of  the  Catskills  in 
their  anthracite  coal.  The  Alleghanies,  however, 
are  quite  an  exception ;  for,  while  covered  on  both 
sides — foot-hills  and  all — to  their  very  summits,  and 
from  end  to  end  with  heavy  forests,  they  also  abound 
nearly  to  the  same  extent  in  coal  and  iron. 


I. 

COAST-LINE. 

THE  ancient  nations  that  were  the  most  advanced 
in  civilization  and  progress,  and  who  lived  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  continents,  occupied  the  most  fertile 
districts,  where  they  could  obtain  an  abundance  of 
food ;  witness  the  great  empires  that  succeeded  one 
another  in  the  fertile  plains  through  which  flowed 
the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  and  the  empires  that 
flourished  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Other  peoples 
clustered  around  the  shores  of  the  great  waters,  and 
a  few  of  the  enterprising  ones  became  leaders  in 
using  them  as  a  highway. 

Maritime  Nations. — On  the  eastern  borders  of 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  the  Phoenicians  were  the 
first  to  venture  out  upon  its  waters,  and,  in  time, 
planted  colonies  upon  its  southern  shore,  from  whom 
sprang  the  Carthaginians.  The  latter  prosecuted 
commerce  in  every  direction,  even  out  into  the  At- 
lantic and  around  to  the  British  Isles.  Meanwhile 
on  the  north  shore  of  the  great  sea  were  the  Greeks, 
having  a  country  penetrated  with  numerous  bays 
and  inlets,  thus  making  intercourse  between  them- 


6     Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

selves  easy  and  also  with  the  outside  world  ;  on  the 
same  shore  were  the  Romans,  and  afterward  the 
Venetians  and  the  Genoese,  who,  having  similar 
facilities,  made  the  same  sea  their  highway,  and,  in 
their  interchanges  of  products  between  the  nations, 
extended  civilization  and  commerce.  But  the  finest 
harbors  of  Europe  are  found  amid  the  waters  that 
sweep  around  the  British  Isles  and  along  the  north 
shores  of  France  and  Germany,  and  into  the  Baltic, 
and  return  by  way  of  the  south  shores  of  Sweden 
and  Norway.  This  portion  of  Europe  has  an  im- 
mense advantage  in  the  comparatively  great  length 
of  her  coast-line,  thus  extending  around  the  bays  and 
estuaries  of  these  much-indented  shores.  England 
furnishes  the  most  remarkable  instance  in  modern 
times  of  great  progress  in  commercial  enterprise. 
No  doubt  her  people  were  stimulated  to  trade  in 
consequence  of  the  facilities  afforded  them  in  having 
numerous  and  good  harbors. 

Comparison  of  Coast-Lines. — Let  us  compare 
this  resource  of  the  United  States  in  proportion  to 
their  entire  territory  with  the  whole  of  Europe, 
and  not  alone  with  clusters  of  good  harbors,  bays, 
and  inlets,  in  a  comparatively  small  section.  Prof. 
George  Grove,  an  English  authority  on  geography, 
estimates  the  coast-line  of  Europe  at  19,500  statute 
miles,  of  which  3,000  along  the  Arctic  Ocean  is 
deemed  unavailable  for  commerce.  (Primer  on  Geog., 
p.  61.)  In  order  to  make  a  correct  comparison  be- 
tween the  extent  of  the  coast-line  of  the  United 


United  States  Siirvey.  7 

States  and  that  of  Europe,  we  must  take  all  of  the 
former,  since  it  is  all  available  for  commerce,  and 
of  the  latter  only  the  portion  that  can  be  thus 
utilized — that  is,  16,500  miles. 

The  coast-line  of  the  United  States — omitting 
Alaska — extends  from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix 
on  the  east  border  of  Maine  on  the  Atlantic,  taking 
in  all  the  indentations,  estuaries,  sounds  and  bays, 
and  rivers  to  ports  of  entry,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Grande  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  and  on  the  Pacific, 
from  half  a  degree  below  the  Bay  of  San  Diego  on 
the  south  to  the  Straits  of  Fuca  on  the  north.  Tak- 
ing as  a  basis  the  available  coast-line  of  Europe, 
16,500  miles,  and  its  area  in  square  miles,  3,700,000, 
and  the  result  will  be  one  mile  of  coast-line  to  about 
224  square  miles  of  surface.  Europe,  in  this  respect, 
is  the  most  favored  of  any  division  of  the  Old  World ; 
it  having,  when  all  the  coast-line — 19,500  miles — is 
reckoned,  to  each  mile  190  square  miles  of  surface ; 
Asia  has  to  one  mile  of  coast-line  469  square  miles 
of  surface ;  Africa,  one  to  895  ;  South  America,  one 
to  434;  and  North  America — when  all  its  coast-line 
is  reckoned — one  to  265.  (M.  Reclus,  "Earth"  vol.  i, 
p.  70.) 

United  States  Survey. — In  a  communication  to 
the  author  from  the  United  States  Geodetic  Survey- 
Office,  Washington,  and  signed  by  Mr.  C.  P.  Pat- 
terson, superintendent,  is  the  following  statement: 
"  The  greatest  length  of  the  shore-line  (of  the  United 
States),  measured  in  steps  of  but  one  mile,  and  in- 


8     Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

eluding-  all  bays,  tidal  rivers,  islands,  etc.,  would  prob- 
ably exceed  150,000  miles,  exclusive  of  Alaska."  As 
reported  on  this  subject  by  the  chairman  of  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Senate,  the  United  States  had  more 
than  17,000  miles  of  sea-coast  to  provide  with  signal- 
lights,  to  which  statement  some  of  the  senators  de- 
murred, holding  the  opinion  that  the  number  of 
miles  was  greater.  To  this  must  be  added  the 
shore-line  of  the  Great  Lakes,  at  the  least  1,000  miles. 
The  shores  of  the  tidal  rivers  of  Europe — that  is, 
those  up  which  the  tide  flows — are  reckoned  as 
coast-lines  as  far  up  as  the  tide  influences  the  stream. 
Thus  Prof.  Grove  speaks  of  the  great  utility  of 
that  "useful,  civilizing  river,"  the  Thames,  and  its 
flow  of  tide  in  promoting  commerce.  The  tidal 
rivers  of  Europe  are  so  small,  in  length,  when 
compared  with  the  Mississippi,  which  is  also  tidal, 
that  it  would  seem  fair  to  take  the  shores  of  the 
latter  and  its  tributaries  up  to  their  highest  port  of 
entry.  Before  the  era  of  steamboats,  ships  cleared 
from  Pittsburg,  at  the  head  of  the  Ohio,  for  Euro- 
pean ports.  From  these  interior  ports  of  entry  boats 
pass  down  to  tide-water  to-day,  and  there  transfer 
their  cargoes  to  ocean-going  ships,  and,  in  doing  so, 
the  Mississippi  affords  facilities  for  commerce  as 
truly  as  the  Thames,  though  more  indirectly.  The 
shore-line  from  these  ports  of  entry  on  the  Missis- 
sippi and  its  tributaries  to  the  Gulf  is  estimated  to 
be  at  least  10,000  miles,  which,  with  the  ocean  and 
lake  coast-lines,  make  28,000,  and  this  gives  to  the 


Facilities  for  Intercourse.  9 

United  States,  excluding  Alaska,  one  mile  of  coast- 
line to  about  1 08  square  miles  of  surface — a  result 
showing  the  numerous  facilities  that  Nature  has 
afforded  the  United  States  for  promoting  inter- 
course and  commerce  with  other  nations,  as  well 
as  an  almost  unlimited  means  of  communication 
among  the  States  themselves.  We  may  be  able  to 
appreciate  these  advantages  of  to-day,  but  can  only 
imagine  how  much  they  will  be  enhanced  in  the 
future,  as  the  ratio  of  national  progress — moral  and 
material — continues  to  increase  from  generation  to 
generation,  while  over  all  pervades  the  stimulating 
and  benign  influence  of  a  Christianized  civilization. 


II. 

COAL. 

The  Value  of  Coal. — It  may  be  interesting  to  the 
American  reader,  on  being  introduced  to  the  coal- 
fields of  his  own  country,  to  glance  at  the  untold 
value  of  that  wonderful  mineral,  which  the  Creator 
has  laid  away  in  storehouses  so  immense.  Of  all  the 
minerals  taken  together,  it  is  the  most  important  in 
its  various  applications,  inasmuch  as  upon  it  de- 
pends man's  ability  to  utilize  so  many  of  the  others. 
In  enumerating  only  partially  what  coal  does  for 
man's  comfort  and  progress,  we  are  amazed  at  the 
magnitude  of  the  blessings  it  confers.  Our  great 
deposits  of  iron-ores,  were  it  not  for  coal  to  smelt 
them,  would  be  stripped  of  nearly  all  their  value, 
for  the  labor  would  be  increased  immensely,  in  order 
even  to  produce  the  comparatively  small  amount  of 
iron  and  steel  that  enters  into  the  common  imple- 
ments of  the  farmer  and  the  mechanic.  What,  then, 
shall  be  said  of  the  immense  quantities  of  iron  needed 
for  the  great  manufacturing  industries  of  the  land  ? 
It  generates  the  steam-power  that  drives  the  ma- 
chines, great  and  small,  which  in  untold  varieties 


The  Carboniferous  Age.  n 

produce  articles  that  minister  to  the  happiness  of 
the  people,  while,  with  its  assistance  from  the  crude 
ore,  molded  by  the  genius  of  man,  come  the  loco- 
motive and  the  steel  rails  over  which  it  glides  so 
easily,  and  the  steam-engine  on  board  the  iron  ship, 
to  transport  products,  and,  in  return,  bring  the  neces- 
saries so  essential  to  the  comfort  of  civilized  com- 
munities. Shall  we  not  also  recognize  the  number- 
less blessings — each  one  small  in  itself,  but  in  the 
aggregate  so  many — that  it  confers  upon  the  people 
at  their  homes,  in  its  domestic  uses,  in  the  genial 
warmth  it  gives,  or,  when  needed,  turns  darkness 
into  cheerful  light? 

The  Carboniferous  Age. — Geology  treats  of  the 
various  periods  in  which  the  earth  underwent  changes 
in  its  structure,  but  we  shall  notice  only  the  one  that 
has  had  a  direct  bearing  on  the  formation  of  coal — 
the  Carboniferous  or  Carbon-producing  age.  "  Car- 
bon is  an  elementary  substance  in  Nature,  which  pre- 
dominates in  all  organic  compounds."  To  the  latter 
belong  plants  of  every  description,  from  the  tiniest 
spear  of  grass  to  the  largest  tree ;  these  all  have  an 
organic  structure,  by  means  of  which  they  derive 
from  the  earth,  the  water,  and  the  air,  the  various 
substances — plant-food;  by  the  latter's  assimilation, 
they  promote  their  own  growth.  These  classes  of 
vegetation  or  plants,  one  and  all,  are  composed  of 
carbon,  combined  with  other  substances,  such  as 
bitumen  and  the  ingredients  that  produce  gas,  and 
which  are  termed  volatile,  as,  under  certain  con- 


12  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

ditions,  they  can  be  driven  off — when  they  are  thus 
removed  the  carbon  remains — the  latter  being  the 
basis  of  charcoal,  while  also  it  enters  largely  into 
mineral  coal.  The  Carboniferous  age  produced  an 
enormous  amount  of  vegetation,  the  remains  of  which, 
in  the  laboratory  of  Nature,  were  afterward  converted 
into  coal ;  the  rationale  of  the  process  we  leave  to  the 
chemist  and  the  geologist  to  explain.  "  The  Car- 
boniferous period  is  probably  not  more  than  one 
thirtieth  part  of  the  world's  history  as  recorded  by 
geology.  In  the  strata  of  that  period  are  virtually 
all  the  coal-measures,  or  at  least  nine  tenths  of  all  the 
workable  coal,  in  the  world,  as  it  was  essentially  the 
coal-bearing  period."  (Le  Conte's  GeoL,  p.  JJ^.)  Coal- 
measures  consist  of  strata  of  sandstones,  shales,  and 
slates,  ledges  of  limestone  and  other  rocks,  also  some- 
times beds  of  iron-ore ;  amid  these  strata  are  inter- 
spersed seams  of  coal,  but  of  various  thicknesses. 

The  Peculiar  Vegetation. — During  this  impor- 
tant period  the  sunshine  and  the  original  warmth 
of  the  earth  stimulated  an  enormous  growth  of  a 
vegetation  so  peculiar  that  it  could  not  exist  under 
other  conditions.  In  connection  with  the  coal  de- 
rived from  the  remains  of  these  immense  forests, 
thickets,  and  undergrowth,  are  found  about  seven 
hundred  species  of  plants,  of  which  the  greatest 
number  belong  to  the  fern  family.  They  grew  in 
depressions  or  basins  that  appear  to  have  had  no 
outlet,  but  whose  bottoms  were  marshy  or  saturated 
with  water,  and  some  species  were  so  tall  and  large — 


Coal-Ferns. 


even  sixty  feet  high,  and  three  or  more  feet  in  diame- 
ter at  the  base— that  geologists  designate  them  tree- 
ferns;  but  their  texture  was  so  soft  that  their  trunks 
are  usually  found  flattened  out  in  the  coal-measures. 
There  were  also  large  vines  with  enormously  ex- 


FIG.  i.  FIG.  2.  FIG.  3. 

FIGS,  i,  2,  3. — COAL-FERNS  :  I.  Callipteris  Sullivanti  (after  Lesquereux). 
2.  Pecopteris  Strongii  (after  Lesquereux).  3.  Alethopteris  Massilo- 
nis  (after  Lesquereux). 

panded  roots  and  immense   foliage ;    gigantic  flags 
and  rushes,  and  ferns  of  a  smaller  kind,  that  thickly 


14  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

studded  the  bottom.  Here  was  a  species  of  moss, 
named  the  club,  from  the  blunt  and  rounded  form  of 
the  extremities  of  its  branches,  that  sometimes  grew 
fifty  feet  high.  None  of  these  were  "  solid  wood,  but 
sappy,  full  of  carbon  or  resinous  and  oily  juices, 
containing  more  of  the  solid  matter  of  coal  than 
our  most  solid  trees  of  to-day."  (Coal,  Iron,  and  Oil, 
p.  68.}  These  all,  of  course,  grew  partially  under 
water ;  the  evidence  of  this  statement  is  derived 
from  the  remains  of  stumps  and  roots  that  are  found 
in  the  impervious  clay  which  constituted  the  bottom 
of  the  marsh.  This  forest,  so  singular  in  its  charac- 
teristics, as  its  leaves  matured,  shed  them  into  the 
water,  there  to  be  preserved  till  other  influences 
transformed  them  into  coal ;  first  taking  the  form  of 
peat,  as  at  present  found  in  bogs ;  then,  perhaps, 
being  subjected  to  a  higher  temperature  and  press- 
ure from  the  outside,  it  became  coal.  Experiment 
has  shown  that  purely  vegetable  peat,  when  sub- 
mitted to  hydraulic  pressure,  becomes  virtually  coal. 
To  produce  twenty  feet  of  coal — the  average  depth 
of  that  in  the  United  States — would  require,  it  is 
estimated,  a  deposit  of  peat  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  in  thickness.  How  can  we  comprehend  the 
amount  of  pressure  that  could  reduce  this  mass  to 
one  sixth  of  its  original  size?  Prof.  Dana  thinks 
that  "  hard  wood  would  be  reduced  three  fourths  in 
weight  and  seven  eighths  in  bulk  to  form  ordinary 
bituminous  coal." 

Comparison  of  Forests  and  Temperature. — We 


Mission  of  the  Ferns. 


have  but  little  conception  of  the  magnitude  of 
that  forest  which  once  pervaded  the  districts  of 
the  United  States 
wherein  we  now 
find  coal.  A  par- 
tial illustration  may 
be  derived  from  the 
dense  and  tangled 
forests  and  under- 
growth now  exist- 
ing in  the  valley  of 
the  Amazon,  as  it  is 
within  a  tropical 
climate,  and  the 
water  is  so  tepid  as 
greatly  to  stimulate 
a  vigorous  growth 
during  the  entire 
year.  It  may  be 
noted  that  hard 
woods,  now  so  use- 
ful, are  found  on 
the  Amazon,  while 
the  fiber  of  the 
tree-ferns  and  the 

undergrowth  of  the  unique  forests  of  the  Carbonifer- 
ous age,  were  so  little  compact  as  to  be  worthless  in 
this  respect ;  the  latter's  mission  was  to  confer  untold 
benefits  upon  man  when  he  should  appear  upon  the 
earth.  Like  that  on  the  Amazon  of  to-day,  this 


1 6  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

strange  growth  knew  no  intermission,  and  we  infer, 
from  the  data  given,  that  the  vegetation  of  that  pe- 
riod was  much  more  dense  than  that  within  the  trop- 
ics of  the  present  time. 

Numbers  of  the  species  of  ferns,  whose  remains 
are  found  within  the  coal-measures,  are  extinct  in 
the  regions  where  the  coal  was  formed,  but  still  exist 
within  the  tropics.  They  show,  however,  that  their 
life  and  enormous  growth  depended  upon  the  condi- 
tions of  heat  and  moisture,  and  to  an  extent  even  far 
beyond  what  prevails  now  under  the  equator.  In 
proof  of  this  may  be  cited  the  fact  that  within  the 
tropics  are  found  representatives  of  the  vegetation  of 
the  Carboniferous  age — certain  flags  or  reeds,  that 
then  grew  to  be  fourteen  inches  in  diameter  and  of 
proportionate  height,  but  are  now  only  one  half  inch 
in  thickness ;  and  tree-ferns,  whose  stems  loomed  up 
nearly  sixty  feet,  but  to-day  their  representatives  are 
seen  in  the  common  ferns  of  our  woods,  while  certain 
varieties  of  the  club-moss,  that  grew  to  the  height  of 
fifty  feet  or  more,  are  now  quite  insignificant  in  size. 
The  coal  species  of  ferns  are  very  similar  throughout 
widely  separated  regions.  That  the  sunshine  wras 
more  effective  in  that  age  than  now  is  improbable, 
since  the  vast  amount  of  moisture  that  saturated  the 
atmosphere  would  greatly  absorb  and  lessen  the 
warmth  of  its  rays  before  they  reached  the  earth. 
The  comparatively  high  temperature  of  the  tropics 
seems,  in  our  day,  to  have  little  effect  upon  the  cold 
of  the  higher  latitudes,  yet  in  the  Carboniferous  age 


The  Coal-Measures.  17 

was  a  vegetation  of  the  same  kind  of  ferns,  etc.,  of 
sufficient  growth  to  produce  seams  of  coal  in  the 
Arctic  Archipelago,  on  Melville's  Island  —  within 
fifteen  degrees  of  the  pole — and  also  on  the  Arctic 
coast,  at  Cape  Beaufort,  in  Alaska.  Here  must  have 
been  a  temperature  so  high  as  to  counteract  the 
coldness  incident  to  the  sun's  retiring  during  the 
winter  months,  but  also  to  keep  up  the  warmth  the 
year  through.  Is  not  the  solution  of  this  phenome- 
non— the  extraordinary  putting  forth  of  the  energies 
of  Nature  in  this  wonderful  growth — to  be  found  in 
the  theory  that  in  that  age  the  independent  warmth 
of  the  earth,  though  in  the  process  of  cooling,  kept 
the  water  so  tepid  that  vegetation  grew  with  very 
great  rapidity?  "The  climate  of  the  coal  period  was 
undoubtedly  characterized  by  greater  warmth,  hu- 
midity, uniformity,  and  a  more  highly  carbonated  con- 
dition of  the  atmosphere  than  now  obtains."  (Le 
Contes  Geology ;  Coal-Measures,  etc^) 

The  Reference  to  Geology. — We  leave  to  the 
geologist  to  explain  the  composition  of  the  coal- 
measures,  and  the  transformations  that  have  taken 
place  in  their  midst ;  the  numerous  and  varied  strata 
of  different  thicknesses,  such  as  that  of  sandstones  and 
other  kinds  of  rock,  of  shales  and  of  slates,  ledges  of 
limestone,  deposits  of  iron-ore,  and  seams  of  coal, 
though  quite  separate  one  above  another,  and  some- 
times of  different  kinds,  as  of  bituminous  and  cannel ; 
some  seams  sufficiently  thick  and  some  too  thin  to 
be  made  available. 
3 


1 8  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 


The  Great  Basins.  —  The  surface  of  the  earth, 
before  it  was  disturbed  by  internal  forces,  was  com- 
paratively  smooth,  yet  it  had  rough 
places,  but  not  nearly  so  great  in  pro- 
portion to  its  diameter  as  are  those  on 
the  rind  of  an  orange.  Into  these 
lower  places  drained  the  water  from 
the  surrounding  higher  ground.  "  The 
seed  was  in  the  earth,"  says  a  very  an- 
cient authority,  and  within  these  basins 
or  depressions  sprang  up  spontaneously 
a  peculiar  vegetation,  already  noticed. 
The  indications  are  that  in  the  Car- 
boniferous age  by  far  the  greatest  of 
these  depressions  within  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  extended  in  its 
original  state,  from  the  eastern  edge 
FIG.  5.  —  ideal  and  farther  south  of  what  we  now  term 

Section  showing  . 

Alternation  of  the  anthracite  field  in  Pennsylvania, 
of  strata.  Ss,  westward  to  hundreds  of  miles  beyond 
the  line  where  the  Mississippi  now 

flows 

The  Internal  Movements.  —  It  is  evi- 
dent that  coal  originally  took  the  bituminous  form, 
and  from  it,  under  certain  conditions,  came  the  anthra- 
cite. When  this  great  marshy  area  had  been  covered, 
we  know  not  to  what  depth,  by  a  vegetable  deposit, 
and  was  prepared,  perhaps,  in  the  form  of  peat  to  be 
transformed  into  coal,  then  through  its  eastern  portion 
internal  forces,  by  a  lateral  movement  toward  the 


stone;    i    iron 
and  c,  coal. 


The  Internal  Movement.  19 

northwest,  shoved  up  the  lower  strata  and  folded 
them  together  with  the  beds  of  the  peat  or  incipient 
coal.  This  convulsion  was  accompanied  by  heat, 
and  in  the  folding  of  the  strata  so  much  pressure 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  mass  that  it  was  con- 
densed into  coal.  Meantime  the  heat  was  not  suffi- 
ciently great  to  burn  the  latter,  but  only  to  drive  off 
or  evaporate  its  volatile  elements — the  bitumen  and 
the  ingredients  that  constitute  gas — and  the  result 
was  anthracite.  This  internal  movement  extended 
in  a  lateral  direction  for  nearly  nine  hundred  miles, 
terminating  on  a  line — the  crest  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains — running  northeast  and  southwest.  Prof. 
Le  Conte,  in  his  Geology,  says :  "  The  sediments 
which  had  been  so  long  accumulating  in  the  Ap- 
palachian (Alleghany)  region  at  last  yielded  to 
the  slowly  increasing  horizontal  pressure,  and  were 
mashed  and  folded  and  thickened  up  into  the  Appa- 
lachian chain  and  the  rocks  metamorphosed.  In 
America  this  chain  of  mountains  is  the  monument 
of  the  greatest  revolution  which  has  taken  place  in 
the  earth's  history."  The  folding  of  these  strata  one 
geologist  illustrates  by  comparing  the  movement  to 
that  of  a  mass  of  dough  being  pressed  from  the  sides, 
which  would  cause  portions  of  it  to  fold  one  over 
another ;  they  are  also  characterized  by  another 
geologist,  Prof.  Guyot,  as  "  wrinkles  on  the  face  of 
Mother  Earth."  These  basins  or  depressions,  with 
their  deposits  of  vegetable  matter,  collected  during 
the  Carboniferous  age,  have  been  illustrated  by  find- 


2O  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

ing  a  counterpart  in  the  famous  Dismal  Swamp  of 
our  own  times,  lying  partly  in  Virginia  and  partly 
in  North  Carolina.  In  this  are  imbedded  vegetable 
matter  that  may  have  been  accumulating  for  thou- 
sands of  years.  It  is  knowrn  to  be  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  deep,  and  within  it  are  found  trunks  of 
trees,  which  are  often  dragged  out  of  their  hiding- 
places  and  utilized  as  lumber.  As  far  as  we  know, 
it  is  only  needed  to  transform  this  immense  deposit 
into  coal,  to  furnish  a  sufficient  amount  of  heat  and 
pressure. 

After  noticing  the  coal-fields  found  east  of  the 
Alleghanies,  we  will  treat  of  the  effects  of  this  inter- 
nal movement  on  the  west  side  of  those  mountains, 
and  also  of  the  coal  deposits  found  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi. 


III. 

MINOR  COAL-FIELDS. 

IN  treating  of  the  coal-fields  of  the  United  States, 
we  propose  to  notice  first  those  on  the  Atlantic  slope, 
which  are  much  smaller  and  somewhat  isolated  from 
the  more  important  fields  of  the  Union.  In  New 
England  coal  is  found  near  Worcester,  Massachusetts, 
and  in  Rhode  Island.  These  coals  are  in  limited 
quantities,  and  very  hard,  partaking  of  the  nature  of 
anthracite.  Vegetable  remains  are  found  in  the  coal- 
beds  of  Rhode  Island,  which  indicate  that  the  coal  is 
the  product  of  the  Carboniferous  age,  the  same  as 
that  of  the  great  central  fields.  No  such  remains 
have  been  discovered  in  the  coal  found  in  Massachu- 
setts ;  perhaps  they  have  been  destroyed  by  intense 
heat.  The  anthracite  of  Rhode  Island  appears  to 
have  been  subjected  to  very  high  temperature  as 
well  as  to  very  great  pressure.  The  veins  of  this 
coal  are  quite  irregular  in  form,  and  in  thickness 
range  from  a  few  inches  to  twenty-three  feet.  The 
deposits  are  limited  in  size,  while  the  quality  of  the 
coal  is  not  so  good  as  that  found  in  the  anthracite 
regions  of  Pennsylvania,  the  former  having  only  77 


22   Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

to  84  per  cent  of  carbon,  while  the  latter  has  95. 
The  coal  thus  being  of  less  commercial  value,  the 
mines,  as  far  as  the  general  use  is  concerned,  are 
virtually  abandoned.  "  The  beds  are  too  unreliable 
and  irregular  to  permit  the  production  of  coal  with 
economy,  or  in  competition  with  the  mining  opera- 
tions of  Pennsylvania." 

Virginia  and  North  Carolina  Coals. — In  the  State 
of  Virginia,  thirteen  miles  west  of  the  city  of  Rich- 
mond, is  found  a  coal-field  that  in  its  extreme  length 
north  and  south  is  about  thirty  miles,  its  greatest 
width  being  eight.  It  crosses  the  James  River  and 
extends  south  to  the  Appomattox.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing fact  to  the  geologist  that  this  bed  of  coal  is  in 
a  fracture  or  trough  of  granite,  upon  which  it  rests 
without  anything  intervening  except  here  and  there 
a  few  inches  of  coal-shale.  Only  about  one  half  of 
this  coal,  owing  to  the  undulations  of  the  granite,  is 
available  for  working.  There  are,  also,  several  small 
deposits  of  coal  in  the  vicinity,  in  all  estimated  at  185 
square  miles.  These  coals  are  white  ash,  and  highly' 
bituminous,  but  they  vary  much  in  quality,  some  be- 
ing quite  impregnated  with  sulphur,  while  others  are 
deemed  good  coal.  In  the  Richmond  coal-field  is  a 
singular  seam  of  natural  coke  from  five  to  six  feet  in 
thickness.  It  appears  like  coal  from  which  has  been 
driven  off  the  volatile  ingredients,  while  there  was 
sufficient  pressure  to  prevent  the  cellular  texture  of 
ordinary  coke,  but  still  retaining  the  carbon  of  the 
original  coal. 


Virginia  Anthracite.  23 

It  is  interesting  as  a  matter  of  history  to  notice 
that  the  Richmond  coal-field  was  discovered  and 
operated  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
and  afterward  there  was  an  active  trade  in  coal  from 
Richmond  to  Philadelphia,  and  a  more  limited  one 
with  New  York  and  Boston. 

Piedmont  and  Dan  River  Coal-Fields. — This  coal- 
field has  an  area  of  about  twenty  square  miles ;  is 
located  due  west  from  that  oLRichmond,  with  which 
it  lies  parallel.  The  seams  are  generally  thin,  rang- 
ing from  six  to  thirty  inches,  except  in  the  vicinity 
of  Farmville,  on  the  Appomattox,  where  there  is  one 
seam  sufficiently  thick  to  be  workable  to  some  ex- 
tent. But  all  these  small  deposits  are  irregular,  and 
the  coal  dips  in  almost  every  direction,  as  this  dis- 
trict appears  to  have  been  much  disturbed  by  in- 
ternal action. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Danville,  on  the  Dan  River,  and 
southwest  from  the  Piedmont,  is  a  coal-field  known 
as  the  Dan  River.  It  lies  partly  in  Virginia  and 
partly  in  North  Carolina.  It  is  evidently  a  continua- 
tion of  the  Piedmont  field,  the  connection,  however, 
having  been  broken  by  internal  convulsions.  The 
area  is  between  twenty  and  thirty  square  miles,  but 
upon  the  whole  it  is  quite  unimportant,  as  the  seams 
of  coal  are  generally  so  thin  as  to  be  unavailable  for 
mining. 

Virginia  Anthracite.  —  Before  leaving  the  Old 
Dominion  we  will  briefly  notice  a  coal-field  within 
her  borders,  that  has  not  yet  been  fully  developed, 


24  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

but  is  full  of  promise.  This  field  consists  of  several 
basins,  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  and  at  the  east  base  of  the  Alleghanies,  about 
fourteen  miles  west  of  the  town  of  Harrisonburg. 
The  coal  found  in  these  basins,  which  lie  parallel  to 
the  mountains,  may  be  deemed  medium  anthracite, 
as  it  contains  less  carbon  than  the  anthracite  of  Penn- 
sylvania, but  more  than  the  semi-bituminous.  Here 
are  several  basins  from  which,  in  different  localities, 
coal  has  been  taken,  and,  on  being  tested,  was  found 
to  contain  86  to  89-5  per  cent  of  carbon.  The  pre- 
sumption is  that,  when  the  mines  are  fully  opened, 
the  quality  of  the  coal  will  be  found  much  improved. 
This  coal  territory  extends  about  twenty-six  miles, 
and  averages  three  in  breadth,  while  there  are  at 
least  three  seams,  ranging  from  four  to  eight  feet  in 
thickness,  along  a  line  of  eight  miles.  The  coal  they 
produce  compares  favorably  with  that  obtained  in 
Lykens  Valley,  at  the  extreme  southwest  end  of  the 
Schuylkili  field  in  Pennsylvania.  It  would  appear 
that  in  a  southwest  direction  from  the  main  anthra- 
cite fields,  in  the  latter  State,  the  carbon  in  the  coal 
diminishes  from  95  per  cent  to  88  in  Lykens  Valley 
— perhaps  the  pressure  upon  it  was  not  so  great. 
The  Virginia  anthracite  burns  freely,  and  has  a  heat- 
ing power  proportionate  to  the  amount  of  carbon  it 
contains.  The  coal-seams  in  these  basins  have  a  dip 
toward  the  southeast,  and  have  been  sometimes  folded 
by  the  great  convulsion  similar  to  the  anthracite 
seams  in  Pennsylvania. 


Minor  Coal-Fields.  25 

Deep  River  Coal-Field. — In  a  southeast  direction 
from  the  Dan  River  field  we  find  in  North  Carolina 
a  coal-field  having1  an  area  of  about  sixty  square 
miles,  where  the  seams  are  workable,  and  known  as 
Deep  River.  It  lies  in  a  trough  or  long  basin, 
which  is  depressed  from  one  to  two  hundred  feet 
below  the  general  level  of  the  country.  Here  are 
found  bituminous  and  semi-bituminous  coal,  the  lat- 
ter shading  off  almost  to  anthracite.  The  bituminous 
is  of  excellent  quality,  making  heat  sufficient  for  the 
forge;  it  is  clear,  burns  easily,  free  from  sulphur, 
and  is  used  for  making  gas  for  illuminating  pur- 
poses. 

New  River  Coal-Field. — This  field  is  in  South- 
western Virginia,  on  the  river  from  which  it  takes 
its  name.  The  latter,  having  cut  its  channel  from 
the  south  end  of  the  great  Valley  of  Virginia  through 
a  break  in  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  by  joining 
the  Kanawha,  its  waters  find  their  way  to  the  Ohio. 
The  seams  of  coal  in  that  region  are  generally  thin 
and  crushed,  and  it  is  somewhat  impure,  though  fre- 
quently similar  to  anthracite  in  character.  This  field 
or  trough  is  not  more  than  one  thousand  feet  wide, 
but  it  extends  a  number  of  miles,  and  within  it  are 
several  beds  of  available  coal,  which  is  quite  free 
from  sulphur,  but  contains  an  unusual  amount  of 
earthy  matter.  It  is  inconsistent  with  our  design,  in 
giving  an  outline  of  this  branch  of  the  Nation's  re- 
sources, to  cite  in  detail  the  various  theories  of 
geologists.  They  agree,  however,  in  thinking  that 


26  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

the  deposits  of  coal  from  Richmond  southward 
along  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Alleghanies  are  all  of 
a  more  recent  formation  than  that  of  the  Carbon- 
iferous  age,  which  produced  the  great  fields  of  the 
Union. 


IV. 

THE  ALLEGHANY  ANTHRACITE   COAL-FIELD. 

THERE  are  four  extensive  coal-fields  in  the  United 
States  that  are  the  production  of  the  Carboniferous 
age.  Of  these,  by  far  the  most  important  is  the 
Alleghany.  This  field  extends  in  a  northeast-south- 
west direction,  and  is  in  length  about  875  miles,  and 
of  varied  width,  from  thirty  miles  in  the  extreme 
southern  end  to  180  in  its  greatest  width  —  from 
Cumberland,  Maryland,  to  Newark,  Ohio.  The 
entire  area  of  the  field  is  60,000  square  miles,  and 
within  it  are  found  the  best  classes  of  coal  in  the 
Union.  Through  its  east  middle  portion  run,  in  the 
same  direction,  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  The  lat- 
ter extend  from  near  the  New  York  State  line  till 
they  bluff  out  in  Northern  Georgia  and  Alabama. 
In  the  northeastern  portion  of  this  field  are  located 
the  districts  that  contain  anthracite  coal.  Though 
in  the  midst  of  mountains,  the  latter  are  the  south- 
western projection  of  the  Catskills.  (Coal  Regions, 
etc.,  p.  n.)  Here  are  numerous  deposits  of  anthra- 
cite coal,  contained  in  troughs  or  basins,  and  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Alleghanies  comes  the  great 


28  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

bituminous  field,  lying  partly  within  eight  States  ; 
while  intermediate  between  the  former  two  are  the 
semi-bituminous  deposits.  The  comparatively  small 
field  of  anthracite — only  4.72  square  miles  by  measure- 
merit — excels,  in  point  of  mineral  wealth,  any  area 
of  similar  extent  in  the  world.  The  anthracite  coal- 
mines  of  Pennsylvania  are  more  valuable  than  the 
gold  and  silver  ones  of  California  and  Nevada.  This 
field  was,  evidently,  once  connected  with  the  great 
continental  one  to  which  allusion  has  been  made 
(p.  13),  but  was  separated  from  it  by  the  convulsion 
that  pushed  up  the  Alleghanies,  while  apparently,  in 
the  process  of  this  internal  movement,  this  portion 
of  bituminous  coal  was  transformed  into  anthracite. 
The  coals  of  the  Alleghany  field  are  of  three  classes 
—the  bituminous,  the  original  form,  and  from  which 
are  derived  the  semi-bituminous  and  the  anthracite. 
The  Parallel  Movement. — It  is  remarkable  that 
nearly  all  the  basins  of  coal  east  of  the  Alleghanies, 
including  those  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  North 
Carolina,  are  parallel  to  one  another  and  to  the  mount- 
ains themselves.  The  evidence  is  presumptive  that 
the  great  internal  movement  which  pushed  up  the 
mountains  came  from  the  southeast,  in  a  wave-like 
motion,  and  moved  and  crushed  up  the  strata  of  the 
crust  of  the  earth  toward  the  northwest;  but  the 
resistance  —  the  strata,  perhaps,  being  deeper  and 
stronger — was  so  great  on  one  line  that  the  move- 
ment was  arrested,  and  its  force  expended  itself  in 
pushing  up  the  mountains  themselves,  and  only  tilted 


Pennsylvania  Anthracite.  29 

toward  the  northwest  the  strata  which  were  adjacent 
on  that  side  to  the  line  mentioned. 

Pennsylvania  Anthracite. — We  come  now  to  treat 
of  a  coal-field — the  anthracite — much  limited  in  area 
when  compared  with  the  vast  extent  of  the  bitumi- 
nous, but  of  remarkable  value.  A  population  of  about 
13,000,000,  and  occupying  an  area  of  300,000  square 
miles,  virtually  receive  their  coal-fuel  from  this  dis- 
trict, containing  only  472-  square  miles.  The  volatile 
parts  having  been  previously  driven  off  in  the  trans- 
formation of  the  anthracite  from  the  original  bitu- 
minous, the  former  burns  with  scarcely  any  flame, 
and  leaves  a  small  amount  of  ashes.  It  is  often 
designated  by  the  color  of  the  ash  it  makes,  as  white 
or  red.  The  latter  owes  its  color  to  the  presence 
of  the  oxide  or  rust  of  iron.  The  white  ash  usually 
has  90  to  95  per  cent  of  carbon,  and  the  red  ranges 
from  85  to  90.  .  The  latter  burns  more  freely;  both 
have  great  heating  power,  and  leave  but  little  ashes, 
while  in  domestic  use  both  kinds  are  much  valued 
for  their  cleanliness. 

Mr.  James  Macfarlane  gives  the  total  area  of  the 
Pennsylvania  anthracite  coal-basins  as  follows : 

1.  Southern,  or  Schuylkill  basin Area,  146  square  miles. 

2.  Middle,  the  basin  Shamokin  (50),  Mahanoy 

(41),  and  Lehigh  (37) "      128       " 

3.  Northern,  Wyoming  and  Lackawanna  basin. .       "      198       " 

Total "      472       " 

Discovery  of  Coal. — Before  entering  upon  a  de- 
scription of  this  remarkable  region,  the  reader  may 


30  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

be  interested  in  the  stories  of  the  two  discoveries 
of  coal,  which  arrested  attention,  and  also  the  inci- 
dents attending  its  introduction  to  the  public.  Tra- 
dition tells  that  Nicho  Allen,  a  hunter,  encamped 
one  night,  in  1790,  in  a  mountain  in  the  Schuylkill 
region.  He  kindled  a  fire  with  wood  amid  some 
black  stones ;  having  gone  to  sleep,  he  was  waked 
by  the  heat.  We  may  judge  his  astonishment  on 
finding  the  black  stones  all  in  a  glow.  He  was 
much  alarmed,  thinking  he  had  set  the  mountain 
on  fire.  This  story  was  noised  abroad,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  (1791)  it  happened  that  another  hunter, 
Philip  Ginter,  was  out  on  a  mountain  in  the  Lehigh 
district,  and  came  upon  a  tree  that  had  been  blown 
down,  the  roots  of  which  had  upturned  black  stones. 
Having  heard  of  the  previous  discovery,  just  men- 
tioned, Ginter  suspected  these  black  stones  were  of 
the  same  character,  and  he  carried  specimens  of 
them  to  one  or  two  intelligent  gentlemen,  who  re- 
warded him  for  showing  them  the  place  where  the 
stones  were  found.  This  spot  was  on  Mauch  Chunk, 
or  Bear  Mountain,  where  the  village  of  Summit  Hill 
now  stands.  Here  was  a  phenomenon  seen  nowhere 
else — a  mass  of  pure  coal,  fifty-five  feet  high,  and 
standing  above-ground.  It  had  withstood  the  heat 
and  frost  and  rain-storms  for  thousands  of  years. 
Meanwhile  much  of  the  strata  above,  and  all  that 
was  around  it,  had  been  eroded  and  carried  away. 
This  plateau  of  coal,  in  area  between  thirty  and 
forty  acres,  stood  alone  on  the  top  of  the  mountaia 


Incidents.  3 1 

(Coal,  Iron,  and  Oil,  p.  //p.)  Years  afterward,  here 
commenced  the  mining  of  anthracite  coal  by  simply 
quarrying  it  out  of  this  pure  mass,  which  yielded 
85,000  tons  to  the  acre.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
this  mine  accidentally  took  fire  in  1857,  and  is  still 
burning  (1887).  The  approaches  to  the  place  were, 
at  the  time  of  discovery,  almost  inaccessible  to  in- 
dividuals, not  to  speak  of  the  difficulties  of  trans- 
porting the  coal. 

Incidents. — It  was  a  long  time  before  the  people 
learned  to  use  and  appreciate  the  excellent  proper- 
ties of  anthracite,  and,  in  consequence,  it  was  years 
before  there  was  a  market  for  such  coal.  Judge 
Fell,  of  VVilkesbarre,  in  1808,  for  the  first  time  suc- 
cessfully burned  anthracite  in  a  grate,  though  at  the 
time  the  experiment  attracted  little  attention.  Four 
years  later  Col.  George  Shoemaker  took  to  Phila- 
delphia, for  sale,  nine  wagon-loads  of  anthracite, 
from  near  Pottsville,  in  the  Schuylkill  coal-fields. 
Bituminous  coal,  from  Richmond,  Virginia,  had 
been  used  to  some  little  extent  in  that  city,  but 
the  good  people  were  suspicious  of  this  black, 
hard,  and  very  peculiar  stone — a  stone-coal.  Very 
few  purchased  it,  and  they  in  small  quantities, 
but  were  unable  to  make  it  burn.  The  colonel  was 
denounced  as  a  swindler  and  a  cheat  by  the  indig- 
nant purchasers ;  and,  indeed,  at  their  instigation, 
warrants  were  issued  for  his  arrest.  However,  he, 
learning  of  these  legal  proceedings,  eluded  the  offi- 
cers of  the  law  by  slipping  away.  Soon  after  the 


32  Natural  Resoiirces  of  the   United  States. 

colonel's  adventure  a  manufacturer  of  iron  in  Dela- 
ware County  used  anthracite  as  an  experiment  in 
his  business,  and  astonished  the  world  by  proclaim- 
ing its  excellent  properties  as  a  heater.  Tradition 
tells  that  the  workmen  labored  during  the  forenoon 
of  the  day  to  make  the  coal  burn,  by  continually 
poking  it,  but  in  vain.  In  despair  they  closed  the 
doors  of  the  furnace,  but  left  the  draught  open,  and 
went  to  dinner  and  leisurely  returned,  but  expect- 
ing that  meanwhile  the  fire  had  gone  out;  but,  to 
their  surprise,  they  found  the  whole  furnace  in  a 
glow!  The  secret  was  discovered.  The  news  soon 
spread,  and  it  was  inferred  that  untold  wealth  lay 
hidden  in  the  mountains  of  the  State. 

The  Speculators. — Soon  after  this  announcement 
the  coal-trade  began  in  earnest.  Speculation  was 
roused,  and  capitalists  ran  wild.  Canals  were  pro- 
jected to  bring  the  coal  to  market,  and  railroads 
followed — then  quite  a  novelty  in  the  mode  of  trans- 
portation— for  the  same  purpose.  Millions  were  in- 
vested in  the  Schuylkill  region  alone.  Laborers  and 
mechanics,  of  all  kinds  and  grades,  and  from  all 
quarters  and  nations,  flocked  to  the  coal-fields,  and 
for  a  time  found  ready  and  constant  employment^ 
at  exorbitant  wages.  Towns  speedily  sprang  into 
existence  ;  many  investors  were  disappointed,  while 
some  were  successful.  Every  year  more  mines 
were  opened,  more  iron-works  were  established, 
more  improvements  were  planned,  and  more  tons 
of  coal  sent  to  market.  This  feverish  excitement 


The  Schuylkill  Coal-Field.  33 

gradually  subsided,  and  coal-mining  and  transporta- 
tion began  to  be  conducted  on  business-like  prin- 
ciples. The  valleys  of  the  Lehigh  and  the  Schuyl- 
kill were  the  favorite  fields  of  these  operations. 

The  Schuylkill  Coal-Field.— As  already  noted, 
Nature  has  divided  the  anthracite  region  of  Penn- 
sylvania into  three  districts,  and,  as  the  character- 
istics of  the  coal  itself,  the  manner  in  which  it  exists 
amid  other  strata,  the  relative  position  of  its  differ- 
ent seams  and  of  the  surrounding  country,  are  very 
similar,  an  outline  of  one  district  gives  a  general 
view  of  the  other  two.  In  noticing  these  coal-fields 
in  their  order,  we  will  commence  with  that  of  the 
southern  or  Schuylkill.  This,  with  the  Lehigh  basin, 
was  the  first  to  be  developed,  because,  though  after 
many  disappointments,  the  owners  finally  secured,  in 
1825,  a  remunerative  market  in  Philadelphia  for  the 
output  of  their  mines. 

This  coal-field,  as  do  the  others,  lies  in  a  long,  nar- 
row trough  or  canoe-shaped  basin ;  these  several 
basins  throughout  the  anthracite  region  are,  for  the 
most  part,  parallel  to  one  another,  though  between 
them  often  intervenes  a  distance  of  a  dozen  or  more 
miles.  Mountains,  parallel  to  one  another,  and  run- 
ning in  a  northeast-southwest  direction,  inclose  the 
Schuylkill  coal-field.  The  extreme  length  of  this 
field  is  seventy-three  miles — extending  from  the 
Lehigh  to  near  the  Susquehanna — with  an  average 
breadth  of  two,  though  in  one  place  it  is  five,  miles 
wide,  for  the  basin  is  very  irregular  in  its  form  and 
4 


34  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

structure.  "  As  a  general  description,  it  might  be 
said  that  in  the  deepest  part  of  this  field  there  are 
fifteen  coal-seams,  each  from  three  to  twenty-five  feet 
in  thickness,  in  all  one  hundred  and  thirteen  feet,  of 
which  eighty  feet  is  considered  marketable  coal." 
(Coal  Regions,  p.  21.)  These  seams,  if  bared  of  other 
strata,  would  appear  to  the  eye  as  running  down  the 
slope  of  one  mountain-barrier  to  a  great  depth,  from 
which  point  they  would  run  up  the  slope  of  the 
mountain  opposite  and  parallel.  Or  they  might  be 
compared  to  the  ribs  of  a  ship,  starting  from  the 
keel,  and  extending  up  either  side,  and  growing 
shorter  as  they  approach  either  end.  Thus  the  coal 
within  these  troughs  has  more  seams  in  the  middle, 
which  become  fewer  and  thinner  toward  the  ends, 
while  the  bottom  gradually  turns  up,  "  till  the  coal  is 
pinched  out."  On  the  southeast  side  of  the  Schuyl- 
kill  field  the  dip  or  inclination  of  the  seams  of  coal  is 
about  80°,  while  on  the  northwest  side  it  is  between 
50°  and  60°.  They  run  down  to  a  depth  as  yet  un- 
known, but  that  point  is  estimated,  perhaps  from 
this  dip,  to  be  more  than  two  thousand  feet.  Future 
generations  will  no  doubt  reach  this  lower  seam  in 
the  pursuit  of  coal,  as  England  has  already  gone 
down  still  farther,  and,  under  the  disadvantage  of 
working  in  bituminous  coal,  the  walls  of  which  are 
less  strong  than  those  of  the  anthracite,  while  the 
seams  of  the  English  coal  run  from  only  three  to 
four  and  a  half  feet  in  thickness.  Although  there 
are  no  horizontal  seams,  all  those  of  the  anthracite 


The  Mammoth  Seam. 


35 


are  not  so  regular  in  their  dip  as  the  ones  composing 
the  Schuylkill  basin ;  for  illustration,  in  a  portion  of 
the  Lehigh  district,  on  Nesquehoning  Creek,  there 
have  been  so  violent  disturbances,  by  the  internal 
wave-like  convulsions,  that  the  seams  have  been 


FIG.  6. — Nesquehoning  Basins  (after  Daddow). 

folded  over  and  against  one  another  to  a  degree  that 
they  are  almost  perpendicular. 

In  these  internal  convulsions  of  the  earth,  mount- 
ain-ranges have  been  broken  across  and  cut  down  by 
the  erosions  of  time,  to  the  valleys  under  which  lies 
the  coal,  and  through  these  cuts  or  gaps  run  streams ; 
the  same  depressions  have  been  utilized  for  construct- 
ing railways  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  coal  to 
the  outside  world.  We  can  not  go  into  details,  only 
observing  that  the  whole  anthracite  region  is  so 
broken  up,  while  the  number  of  these  passes  and 
cuts  is  so  great,  that  they  give  the  landscape  the 
appearance  of  a  series  of  isolated  mountains. 

The  Mammoth  Seam. — In  the  Schuylkill  basin 
at  Pottsville — the  center  of  the  coal  production  of 
that  field — is  the  deepest  portion  of  the  coal-seams. 
"  The  real  wonder  of  this  famous  Pottsville  region  is 
the  great  '  Mammoth '  seam  of  coal,  which  is  often 
as  much  as  thirty,  forty,  and  in  some  places  even 
fifty  feet  in  thickness.  .  .  .  This  is  the  most  regular 


36  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

and  reliable  of  all  our  coal-seams,  the  most  economi- 
cal to  mine  and  operate,  and,  from  its  size,  the  most 
productive."  Throughout  the  anthracite  region, 
owing  to  upheavals,  the  seams  are  much  tilted,  and, 
in  consequence,  the  mining  operations  are  more  diffi- 
cult and  expensive  than  in  the  bituminous  fields ;  but 
that  is  compensated  by  the  value  of  the  coal  itself, 
and  by  its  being  in  great  demand.  This  immense 
seam,  in  the  midst  of  others,  pervades  the  entire 
anthracite  region ;  and,  when  we  come  to  treat  of 
other  localities,  we  shall  find  traces  of  it  even  there. 
The  very  large  seams  are  the  only  ones  worked  at 
present,  and,  it  is  said,  in  a  wasteful  manner,  the 
operators  tacitly  proposing  to  let  posterity  take  care 
of  itself;  but  the  time  will  come,  perhaps,  in  a  few 
centuries  hence,  when  the  seams  that  are  now  less 
available  will  be  worked.  Improvements  in  ma- 
chinery for  getting  out  coal  may  be  invented  in  the 
future,  by  which  these  smaller  seams  can  be  utilized, 
as  those  of  similar  size  are  to-day  in  England  and  on 
the  Continent.  That  the  reader  may  find  on  a  map 
the  localities  of  these  remarkable  coal-fields,  we  give 
the  names  of  the  principal  mining  towns :  Thus,  in 
the  southern  field,  among  many  smaller  ones,  are 
Pottsville  and  Minersville.  (Appletons  Higher  Geog.) 
The  Middle  Coal-Field.— This  coal-field,  though 
the  smallest,  is  composed  of  quite  a  number  of  basins 
more  or  less  detached  from  one  another,  such  as  the 
Shamokin  and  the  Mahanoy,  which  are  virtually  one, 
though  partially  separated  by  a  ridge.  Their  names 


Lehigh  Coal  Popular.  37 

are  Indian,  and  derived  from  two  creeks,  tributaries 
of  the  Susquehanna.  The  western  portion  of  the 
Middle  field,  the  Shamokin,  is  twenty  miles  in  length, 
with  an  average  breadth  of  two  and  a  half,  the  area 
being  fifty  square  miles ;  the  eastern  portion,  €he 
Mahanoy,  is  twenty-five  miles  in  length,  with  a  mean 
width  of  less  than  two,  and  its  area  is  forty-one 
square  miles.  In  connection  with  these  is  also 
reckoned  the  Lehigh  district,  which  numbers  seven 
narrow  basins,  the  combined  area  of  which  is  thirty- 
seven  square  miles.  The  latter  river  is  a  tributary 
of  the  Delaware. 

The  Lehigh  basins,  though  comparatively  small 
in  area,  are  very  productive,  and  furnish  an  excellent 
quality  of  coal.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  coals  of 
all  these  mines  have  the  same  general  characteristics ; 
to  some,  however,  slight  advantages  are  conceded  in 
their  hardness  and  dryness,  and  a  greater  amount 
and  purity  of  carbon.  The  coal  from  the  Lehigh 
basins  is  in  some  respects  very  popular.  It  is  spe- 
cially valuable  when  an  intense  heat  is  required,  as 
in  the  manufacture  of  articles  made  from  pig  or  cast 
iron.  For  these  reasons  the  use  of  that  coal  has 
extended  more  over  the  country  than  any  other. 
The  Mammoth  vein  in  these  seven  basins  is  about 
thirty  feet  thick,  and  pure  without  a  break,  and  noted 
for  its  dryness.  The  leading  mining  towns  of  this 
Middle  field  are  Mauch  Chunk,  Tamaqua,  Mahanoy 
City,  Ashland,  Shamokin,  and  Hazelton. 

The  Wyoming  and  Lackawanna  Coal-Fields.— 


38  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

This  unbroken  and  largest  and  finest  basin  of  anthra- 
cite underlies  the  beautiful  Wyoming  Valley,  so 
famous  in  our  history,  because  of  a  sad  tragedy. 
(Hist.  American  People,  pp.  498,  502.)  Through  the 
southwestern  portion  of  this  valley  flows  the  main 
branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  which  is  joined  within  it 
by  the  Lackawanna,  which  flows  through  the  north- 
eastern part.  Beneath  the  beds  of  these  streams, 
at  a  distance  of  hundreds  of  feet,  are  the  coal-seams. 
They  extend,  following  the  moderately  crescent  shape 
of  the  valley,  for  fifty  miles  without  a  break,  with  an 
average  width  of  nearly  four,  the  area  of  the  coal- 
field being  198  square  miles.  The  whole  valley  is 
completely  shut  in  by  mountains,  through  which,  on 
the  northwestern  side,  the  Susquehanna  cuts  its  way, 
making  a  channel  down  to  the  level  of  the  surface  of 
the  valley,  while  the  head-streams  of  the  Lackawanna 
come  in  almost  at  the  same  level  on  the  northeast. 
The  coal-seams,  apparently  adapting  themselves  to 
the  undulations  of  the  valley,  rise  only  to  a  moderate 
distance  up  the  slopes  of  the  inclosing  mountains, 
but  extend  below  to  an  unknown  depth ;  in  the  cen- 
tral portion  of  the  basin,  that  point  is  estimated  to  be 
several  hundred  feet  beneath  the  level  of  the  ocean. 
Excavations  in  pursuit  of  coal  have  not  yet  reached 
this  lower  region.  The  seams  of  coal  in  this  north- 
ern field  are  quite  regularly  disposed  and  uniform, 
nearly  approaching  the  horizontal  position  of  the 
seams  in  the  bituminous  fields,  thus  facilitating  min- 
ing operations.  We  may  suppose  that  the  wave-like 


The  Outlook —  The  Enterprise.  39 

movement  in  this  northern  field  spent  its  force  in 
throwing  up  the  mountains,  and  was  unable  to  fold 
the  coal-seams  over  one  against  another,  as  in  some 
of  the  other  basins,  or  perhaps  in  the  convulsion  the 
coal  strata  sank  down  and  remained  unbroken,  but 
merely  bent  upward  at  the  sides  and  ends.  The 
Mammoth  vein  in  this  field  ranges  from  fourteen  feet 
to  twenty-four.  The  chief  mining  towns  are  Wilkes- 
barre,  Pittston,  Scranton,  and  Carbondale. 

The  Outlook — the  Enterprise. — We  have  briefly 
noticed  the  anthracite  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  to  whom 
nature  has  virtually  given  the  monopoly  of  that 
class  of  coal.  The  usual  estimated  amount  to  the 
acre  that  is  mined  from  the  several  workable  seams 
is  about  60,000  tons,  though  it  is  conceded  that  there 
is  a  vast  deal  of  wastage  in  the  mining  operations  as 
now  conducted,  which  would  amount  to  perhaps 
25,000  tons  more  if  all  the  coal  were  taken  out.  The 
time  will  come  when  the  "  Mammoth,"  and  others  of 
the  larger  seams  will  be  exhausted,  and  from  neces- 
sity those  that  are  now  deemed  unprofitable  to  mine, 
because  of  their  thinness,  will  be  brought  into  requi- 
sition. 

These  anthracite  fields  afford  examples  of  energy 
and  enterprise  that  are  not  surpassed  elsewhere  in 
the  Union.  Railroads,  after  overcoming  difficulties 
almost  insurmountable,  made  their  way  along  rivers 
and  ravines,  through  gaps,  and  tunneling  when  they 
could  not  rise  over  summits,  until  they  penetrated 
the  inmost  recesses  of  these  mountains,  once  thought 


40  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

to  be  absolutely  inaccessible  to  railways.  The  man- 
agement of  these  roads  gives  employment  to  thou- 
sands, while  almost  everywhere  in  sight  are  steam- 
engines  hoisting  the  coal  to  the  surface  or  freeing  the 
mines  from  water,  or  driving  the  immense  machines 
that  crush  the  anthracite  into  various  sizes  to  prepare 
it  for  use,  while  thousands  upon  thousands  of  miners 
in  the  depths  below,  with  picks  and  shovels,  are  dig- 
ging the  coal  out  of  its  original  bed.  Not  long  since 
(1885)  there  were  210  collieries  at  work  in  the  south- 
ern and  middle  fields,  and  there  were  about  90  in 
the  Wyoming  and  Lackawanna  district,  making  in 
all  about  300.  From  these  statements  we  may  form 
an  estimate  of  the  immense  amount  of  labor  required 
to  furnish  the  people  that  are  dependent  upon  these 
mines  for  their  coal-fuel. 

The  Great  Eastern  Valley. — One  of  the  most  im- 
portant natural  resources  of  the  United  States  is 
their  abundance  of  soil  that  is  fertile  and  available 
for  cultivation.  In  connection  with  the  coal-fields 
just  described,  it  is  proper  to  notice  a  depression  or 
valley  from  ten  to  twenty  miles  wide,  and  about 
1,500  miles  long,  that  runs  throughout,  virtually 
parallel  to  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  coal-fields, 
and  to  the  Atlantic  coast.  It  commences  in  New 
York  State,  northwest  of  the  Catskills,  crosses  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland,  Virginia,  East  Tennessee,  and 
terminates  in  the  State  of  Alabama.  Into  this  valley 
enter  many  smaller  ones,  that  are  equally  fertile.  It 
is  known  by  different  names,  such  as  the  Cumberland 


The  Great   Valley.  41 

in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  the  Shenandoah  in 
Virginia,  and  the  East  Tennessee ;  the  latter  drained 
by  the  Holston,  the  French  Broad,  and  the  Tennes- 
see. It  has  one  valuable  characteristic  throughout : 
it  is  underlaid  with  limestone,  whose  elements  im- 
pregnate the  soil,  and  make  it  pre-eminently  the  most 
productive  region  in  cereals  east  of  the  Alleghanies. 
"  All  Southeastern  Pennsylvania,  owing  to  the  pres- 
ence of  limestone  and  other  softer  rocks,  possesses  a 
fertile  soil,  and  has  been  justly  called  the  garden  of 
the  Atlantic  slope."  It  is  a  striking  feature  of  this 
valley,  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  proximity 
of  an  abundance  of  coal,  that  in  certain  portions  of 
it,  especially  in  Pennsylvania,  are  found  large  de- 
posits of  iron-ore,  and  often  beneath  the  soil  of  the 
wheat-fields  may  be  found  beds  of  this  ore  and  ledges 
of  limestone.  The  proper  combination  of  these  three 
materials,  as  a  means  to  an  end,  is  essential  in  mak- 
ing iron. 


V. 

SEMI-BITUMINOUS   COAL-FIELDS. 

BEFORE  passing  to  the  west  side  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  where  are  found  our  most  important  bitu- 
minous coal  deposits,  we  will  briefly  notice  a  series 
of  basins  which  contain  a  coal  that  is  unique  in  its 
nature,  and  characterized  as  semi-bituminous  —  a 
medium  between  the  hard  and  soft  coals.  The 
semi-bituminous  produces  great  heat,  as  it  contains 
from  70  to  84  per  cent  of  carbon,  and  has  likewise 
sufficient  bitumen  or  volatile  matter  to  make  a  blaze. 
The  latter  trait  renders  it  very  useful  in  generating 
steam,  as  the  flame  passes  through  the  tubes  within 
the  boiler ;  hence  it  is  sometimes  designated  as  steam- 
coal  The  strata  containing  this  coal  were  tossed 
up  by  the  great  convulsion,  and  heated  and  pressed, 
but  not  nearly  so  much  as  was  the  anthracite.  The 
northern  portion  of  this  series  of  coal-fields  lies  west 
of  the  anthracite  region,  on  the  head-waters  of  the 
West  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  the  Alleghany,  and 
the  Juniata  Rivers.  These  coal-basins  lie  high  up 
in  the  mountains,  some  even  1,000  feet  above  the 
intervening  valleys ;  the  latter,  in  the  course  of  many 


Blossburg  to  Broad  Top.  43 

centuries,  were  made  by  the  continuous  erosion  of 
the  waters  of  the  streams  that  now  flow  through 
them,  and  which  scooped  out  and  carried  away  the 
earth  as  well  as  the  coal. 

The  Basins  from  Blossburg  to  Broad  Top.— 
These  deposits  of  coal  lie  in  a  southwest  direction 
along  the  eastern  margin  of  the  Alleghanies,  and 
only  in  this  long,  narrow  region  is  this  species  of 
coal  found.  These  basins  are  numerous,  but  often 
small,  and,  at  intervals,  extend  from  Blossburg  to 
Broad  Top,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles  or  more. 
Along  this  line  are  eight  localities  in  which  this  coal 
is  found,  and  in  mining  it  are  engaged  nearly  sixty 
corporations.  Blossburg,  on  the  north,  has  a  coal 
area  of  50  square  miles,  and  Broad  Top  Mountain, 
on  the  south,  has  80,  while  the  remaining  basins 
have  altogether  about  370  square  miles.  The  fossils 
found  in  this  coal  show  its  origin  to  be  similar  to 
that  in  the  neighboring  localities. 

The  Blossburg  mines  are  on  the  head-streams 
of  Tioga  River,  which  runs  north  to  the  Chemung, 
a  branch  of  the  Susquehanna.  In  these  mines  the 
seams  of  coal  lie  one  above  another,  and  many  feet 
apart,  and  vary  from  three,  four  and  a  half,  to  five 
and  a  half  feet  in  thickness,  in  all  about  thirteen 
feet. 

Broad  Top  Mountain  is  quite  singular  in  its 
general  conformation,  being  a  ridge  encircled  by 
valleys  1,000  feet  deep.  The  ridge  is  eighteen 
miles  long,  by  an  average  width  of  about  four  and 


44  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 


FIG.  7. — NEUROPTERIS  FLEXUOSA  :  Literally,  "  Bending  Nerve-Fern," 
so  named  from  the  Veins  of  its  Leaflets.  The  Fossil  Fern,  here 
represented  of  the  Natural  Size,  was  taken  from  the  Roof-Slates  of 
Coal-Seam  D,  at  the  Mines  of  the  Blossburg  Coal  Company,  at  Ar- 
not,  Pennsylvania. 


Johnstown   Coal-Seams.  45 

a  half.  The  coal-measures  of  these  eighty  square 
miles  are  disposed  in  six  basins  that  are  parallel  to 
one  another,  amid  which  rises  Terrace  Mountain,  a 
peak  in  height  equaling  the  Alleghanies  themselves. 
Near  the  summit  of  this  peak  remains  a  small 
round  patch  of  the  Pittsburg  or  Westmoreland  gas- 
coal  bed,  a  few  acres  in  extent — the  sole  relic  of 
that  vast  deposit  "  which  once  covered  all  that 
region." 

This  semi-bituminous  coal,  though  having  excel- 
lent qualities,  such  as  being  free  from  sulphur  and 
of  great  heating  power,  is  inferior  in  appearance, 
liable  to  crumble  when  exposed  to  the  air,  and  be- 
come very  fine,  almost  dust.  It  is  easily  broken, 
falling  apart  in  cube-shaped  pieces,  and  is  decidedly 
dirty,  soiling  almost  everything  it  touches.  It  is 
admirable  for  the  use  of  the  blacksmith,  and  for 
that  purpose  is  sent  to  Canada,  and  is  also  used  in 
the  workshops  of  the  railways. 

Johnstown. — In  treating  of  this  interesting  sub- 
ject, we  should  not  fail  to  note  the  many  instances 
in  which  the  Creator  has  placed  near  one  another 
the  materials  that,  when  combined  by  man's  inge- 
nuity, confer  untold  benefits  upon  the  race.  A 
striking  illustration  of  this  is  seen  in  that  remark- 
able region  around  Johnstown,  Cambria  County, 
Pennsylvania.  There,  in  the  same  mountain-side, 
lying  in  five  horizontal  seams,  one  above  another, 
with  spaces  between  of  different  depths,  is  found 
semi-bituminous  coal.  It  is  in  seams  ranging  in 


46  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

thickness  from  three  and  a  half  to  seven  feet.  In 
the  same  mountain-side,  and  interspersed  with  these 
seams  of  coal,  are  also  found  deposits  of  iron-ore 
and  ledges  of  limestone.  The  iron-ore  is  in  two 
beds,  the  main  one  overlying  the  highest  workable 
coal-seam.  The  coal  melts  the  ore;  the  limestone 
fluxes  it — that  is,  when  the  former  is  intensely  heated, 
the  latter  causes  the  mass  to  flow  as  a  fluid.  The 
only  transportation  required  for  these  materials  is 
the  comparatively  short  distance  from  the  mouths 
of  these  mines  to  the  furnaces  in  blast. 

The  Cumberland  Coal-Field.— The  Cumberland 
district  of  semi-bituminous  coal  belongs  properly  to 
the  great  Alleghany  coal-field,  though  it  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  latter  by  a  mountain.  There  are 
composing  the  Cumberland  coal  district  three  promi- 
nent basins,  all  lying  in  a  southwest  direction,  and 
separated  from  one  another  by  the  projection  upward 
of  mountain-ridges.  The  northeast  basin,  known  as 
the  Frostburg,  is  in,  length  thirty  miles,  and  has  an 
average  width  of  five.  The  middle  basin  has  an 
area  of  130  square  miles,  while  the  southwest  one 
has  250;  in  all  530  square  miles.  The  Youghi- 
ogheny  River  cuts  its  channel  through  the  latter. 
Portions  of  the  Frostburg  basin  lie  within  three 
States — the  northeast  in  Pennsylvania,  the  middle 
in  Maryland,  and  the  southwest  in  West  Virginia. 
The  Cumberland  coal  is  unusually  free  from  sulphur, 
and  contains  from  13  to  nearly  20  per  cent  of  volatile 
matter,  and  from  72  to  83  per  cent  of  carbon.  The 


The  Qualities  of  this  Coal.  47 

main  seam  of  the  Cumberland  field  is  nearly  hori- 
zontal, and  is  fourteen  feet  in  thickness — a  relic  of 
the  Pittsburg  seam  of  the  Alleghany  bituminous 
coal-field — while  in  the  southwest  basin,  across  the 
Potomac,  at  Piedmont,  in  West  Virginia,  the  same 
seam,  now  sixteen  feet  thick,  crops  out  1,000  feet 
above  where  runs  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway. 
The  coal  is  taken  out  in  large  lumps.  In  color  it 
is  of  a  jet-black,  having  a  "glossy  appearance,  but 
withal  becomes  quite  friable  when  exposed  to  the 
atmosphere,  and  is  soon  reduced  in  size  very  much 
in  the  handling  necessary  for  its  transportation. 
Notwithstanding  these  drawbacks  it  is  a  remarkably 
fine  coal  for  generating  steam,  and  therefore  is  very 
much  used  on  board  of  ocean-going  steamers  and 
locomotives.  It  may  be  remarked  that,  owing  to 
the  crumbling  nature  of  the  coal,  and  consequently 
the  lack  of  a  strong,  self-sustaining  roof,  the  seams 
can  be  very  seldom  mined  to  their  full  extent,  as 
in  the  anthracite  mines,  or  even  in  the  bituminous 
fields  farther  west.  Hence  there  is  an  unusual 
wastage,  and  the  fear  is  entertained  that,  if  the 
present  system  of  mining  continues,  a  half-century 
will  see  these  mines  exhausted.  It  may  interest  the 
reader  to  know  that  geologists  state  that  "  the 
Frostburg  or  Cumberland  coal-basin  is  the  most  in- 
teresting and  important  feature  in  the  geology  and 
physical  geography  of  the  country."  The  entire 
area  of  our  semi-bituminous  coal  is  1,030  square 
miles. 


VI. 

THE  ALLEGHANY  BITUMINOUS   COAL-FIELD. 

As  intimated  (p.  19),  we  come  now  to  treat  of  the 
effects  produced  in  the  strata  of  the  basin  northwest 
and  west  of  the  Alleghanies  by  that  internal  convul- 
sion, whose  wave- like  motion  coming  from  the  south- 
east crushed  and  folded  up  the  crust  of  the  earth  on 
their  southeast  side,  but  whose  movement  was  ar- 
rested on  the  line  where  now  stand  the  mountains 
themselves.  Along  the  entire  length  of  that  line — 
nearly  1,000  miles — for  some  unexplained  reason,  the 
resistance  was  too  great  to  be  overcome,  and  the 
result  produced  was  that  the  whole  southeast  portion 
of  the  basin  mentioned  above  was  only  raised  up  or 
tilted  on  the  mountain's  northwest  side.  This  tilting 
appears  to  have  had  its  hinge,  so  to  speak,  along  the 
line  of  the  Ohio  River,  that  being  the  lowest  part  of 
the  inclined  plane,  as  under  the  latter's  present  chan- 
nel there  is  evidence  of  a  depression — the  bed,  per- 
haps, of  a  former  stream.  Geology  tells  us  that 
"  the  Ohio,  throughout  its  entire  course,  runs  in  a 
valley,  which  has  been  cut  nowhere  less  than  150 
feet  below  the  present  bed  of  the  river.  This  dis- 


The  Strata  merely ''Upheaved.  49 

covery  is  due  to  the  investigations  of  Prof.  J.  S. 
Newberry,  now  of  Columbia  College,  New  York 
city.  In  addition  the  influence  of  the  internal  move- 
ment of  the  crust  of  the  earth  seems  for  the  most 
part  to  have  stopped  at  that  line,  as  under  the 
prairies  northwest  and  west  of  the  river  the  strata 
appear  to  have  been  scarcely  disturbed.  Southeast 
of  the  mountains  the  strata  were  tossed  and  folded 
in  comparatively  small  spaces,  while  on  the  west 
they  were  merely  upheaved  in  vast  areas,  but  not 
broken  and  crumpled.  There  was  heat  sufficient  to 
modify  the  vegetable  material  in  the  strata,  but  not 
enough  to  drive  off  the  volatile  parts ;  and  this  mod- 
erate heat,  combined  with  superincumbent  pressure 
transformed — may  we  not  say  ? — the  peat  into  a  bitu- 
minous coal,  which  in  its  general  excellent  qualities, 
and  in  consideration  of  its  vast  area,  is  the  most 
remarkable  field  in  the  world.  Another  evidence  of 
this  line  of  depression  is  derived  from  the  fact  that 
all  the  original  streams  from  the  crest  of  the  mount- 
ains, the  highest  part  of  the  inclined  plane,  uniformly 
found  their  way  to  the  Ohio.  Thus  from  the  high- 
est line  or  edge  of  this  water-shed,  which  extends 
from  Southwestern  New  York  along  the  mountains 
to  Northern  Alabama,  and  thence  west  on  a  dividing 
ridge  almost  to  the  Mississippi,  flow  the  Alleghany, 
the  Conemaugh,  the  Youghiogheny,  the  Monongahela, 
the  Kanawha,  the  Kentucky,  the  Cumberland,  and  the 
Tennessee,  all  into  the  Ohio,  and  all  have  their  head- 
streams  at  or  near  the  highest  line  of  this  inclined  plane. 
5 


50  Natiiral  Resources  of  the  United  States. 


Rivers  and  Valleys.— The  process  of  erosion  or 
denudation  commenced  when  from  this  crest  the 
waters,  at  first  in  streamlets,  then  increasing  in  size 
c  by  being  joined  by  others,  began  seek- 
ing in  a  north  or  northwest  direction 
2  the  lowest  part  of  this  tilted  plain. 
The  main  channels  increased  in  size 
|  while  their  tributaries  increased  in 
J?  number,  and  all  cutting  their  way 
1 5  across  the  plain  and  down  through 
.s>3  the  various  strata  of  the  coal-meas- 
||  ures,  scooping  out  by  attrition  the 
I"*'  earth  and  the  coal,  and  carrying  both 
^£  away.  As  a  compensation  to  man 
1  £  were  left  instead  fertile  valleys,  great 
•33  and  small,  but  all  enriched  by  these 
^5  streams  and  beautiful  hills,  in  which 
'|£  are  preserved  the  original  strata,  and 
|[|*  out  of  whose  sides  often  crop  the 
seams  of  coal  that  have  escaped  the 
general  destruction.  It  took  ages 

O 

and  ages  to  excavate  these  valleys, 
^  and  carry  away  their  original  con- 
^  tents ;  while  in  accordance  with  the 
^  nature  of  the  strata  to  be  overcome, 
some  of  the  valleys  are  narrow,  inclosed  by  steep 
and  parallel  hill-sides,  and  others  are  wider,  and 
often  have  long  and  wide  stretches  of  fertile  bot- 
tom-land, bordering  on  these  streams  or  rivers.  All 
this  has  been  done  for  the  benefit  of  man;  to  be 


Great  Basin  Drained.  51 

sure,  an  immense  amount  of  coal  has  been  carried 
away,  but  no  doubt  there  still  remains  sufficient  for 
the  wants  of  the  Nation.  In  lieu  of  the  apparent 
loss  thus  sustained,  the  process  of  cutting-  down  the 
valleys  has  wonderfully  increased  the  facilities  for 
mining  the  coal,  which  in  that  region  can  now  be 
reached  on  a  level,  rather  than  by  shafts  and  ex- 
pensive machinery,  and  extra  labor,  while  the  rivers 
thus  made  afford  an  easy  means  of  conveying  the 
coal  where  it  is  needed. 

The  Great  Basin  drained. — The  great  basin  (page 
1 8)  was  originally  hemmed  in  on  the  southwestern 
side  by  a  barrier  that  extended  even  west  of  where 
the  Mississippi  now  flows.  The  weakest  portion  of 
that  barrier  was  from  the  bluff,  on  which  now  stands 
the  city  of  Vicksburg,  to  a  similar  one  in  Louisiana, 
distant  sixty-five  miles.  The  Vicksburg  or  eastern 
bluff  is  now  two  hundred  feet  high,  and  the  western 
is  a  little  lower.  Prof.  Guyot  says,  "  The  strata  in 
the  opposite  bluffs  correspond  throughout  in  such 
manner  as  to  prove  their  former  continuity."  Near 
the  Vicksburg  bluff  the  accumulated  waters  burst 
through  the  barrier,  and  then  and  there  commenced 
not  only  the  formation  of  the  southern  part  of  the 
channel  of  the  Mississippi,  but  also  its  delta.  The 
reader  may  ask,  "  Where  did  these  waters  carry  the 
mass  of  the  earth  and  strata  that  once  filled  the  space 
occupied  by  the  valleys  of  to-day  ?  "  The  same  au- 
thority answers,  "  It  is  estimated  that  the  sediment 
carried  annually  at  the  present  time  by  the  Missis- 


52  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

sippi  to  the  Gulf  is  sufficient  to  cover  one  square 
mile  to  the  depth  of  268  feet."  If  that  estimate  is 
correct,  after  the  banks  of  the  streams  and  the  hill- 
sides have  been  protected  by  verdure  and  by  forests, 
how  much  greater  must  have  been  the  erosion  when 
the  waters  burst  through  the  barrier !  The  area  of 
the  delta  of  the  Mississippi  is  12,300  square  miles; 
that  designates  only  the  surface  measurement,  but 
we  are  unable  to  ascertain  the  depth  of  the  ocean 
that  had  to  be  filled  before  the  height  of  the  present 
surface  was  reached,  and  therefore  its  cubical  meas- 
urement can  be  only  a  subject  of  conjecture. 

The  Pittsburg  Coal-Field  and  Seam. — The  work- 
able seams  of  coal  in  this  field  are  estimated  in  the 
aggregate  of  their  depth  to  be  from  twenty  to  thirty 
feet ;  the  lower  ones  being  generally  the  thickest 
and  the  purest.  We  noticed  in  the  anthracite  region 
a  seam  of  coal  designated  the  "  Mammoth/'  because 
of  its  immense  size ;  so  in  the  great  bituminous  field, 
west  of  the  Alleghanies,  we  find  another  that  holds  a 
similar  pre-eminence.  The  latter  is  known  as  the 
"  Pittsburg  seam,"  thus  named  from  that  city,  so 
remarkably  progressive  in  all  the  mechanical  indus- 
tries that  require  a  great  amount  of  heat,  such  as  the 
manufacture  of  glass,  and  of  iron  and  steel.  Pitts- 
burg has  ever  drawn  its  coal-fuel  from  that  seam,  as 
it  underlies  the  hills  in  the  vicinity,  and,  except  to- 
ward the  north,  extends  around  for  hundreds  of 
miles.  The  coal  crops  out ,  in  different  seams  all 
along  the  hill-slopes  that  border  the  rivers — the  Mo- 


The  Famed  Gas-Coal.  53 

nongahela  and  its  main  tributary,  the  Youghiogheny, 
and  also  in  the  hill-sides  of  the  numerous  valleys 
scooped  out  by  their  several  tributaries.  The  area 
of  this  coal-seam  is  about  1 8,000  square  miles  ;  in  con- 
nection with  Northwestern  Pennsylvania,  it  includes 
a  portion  of  Northeastern  Ohio,  and  the  rest  of 
Western  Pennsylvania  to  the  southern  border,  where 
it  takes  in  West  Virginia,  and  a  portion  of  Western 
Maryland  and  of  Eastern  Kentucky.  This  seam  at 
Pittsburg  and  its  immediate  vicinity  is  eight  feet 
thick,  but  that  depth  gradually  increases  toward  the 
southeast,  till  at  the  base  of  Chestnut  Ridge,  the 
most  western  subordinate  range  of  the  Alleghanies, 
it  is  from  nine  to  eleven,  and  still  farther  in  the 
same  direction  in  the  outlying  Cumberland  deposit, 
it  reaches  fourteen  and  sixteen  feet  in  thickness.  In 
its  broad  extent  it  manifests  a  wonderful  uniformity 
of  all  the  physical  conditions  under  which,  in  the 
Carboniferous  age,  its  vegetable  ingredients  were 
accumulated  over  its  entire  area.  "  This  rich,  solid, 
bituminous  coal  is  very  free  from  sulphur,  and  yields 
forty  to  forty-five  cubic  feet  of  gas  to  ten  pounds  of 
coal."  About  fifteen  miles  east  of  Pittsburg,  along 
the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railway,  are  several  mines 
of  this  coal,  whence  it  is  transported  to  the  Eastern 
cities  for  gas-making  purposes.  The  station  at  Irvin, 
Westmoreland  County,  is  the  center  of  the  most  im- 
portant gas-coal  mining  region  in  the  United  States. 
It  may  be  remarked  that  on  an  average  of  seventy- 
five  feet  above  this  main  seam  there  is  a  deposit  of 


54  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

limestone,  the  most  extensive  and  valuable  in  that 
portion  of  the  State,  especially  in  the  valley  of  the 
Monongahela  and  those  of  its  tributaries.  This  may 
account  for  the  remarkable  fertility  of  the  soil  of  that 
region,  as  it  is  impregnated  with  lime  similar  to  that 
of  the  famous  Cumberland  Valley  in  Eastern  Penn- 
sylvania. "  The  Monongahela  Valley  has  beautiful 
hill-slopes,  backed  by  a  great  rounded,  smoothed, 
cultivated  up-country,  of  grain-farms  and  pasture- 
lands,  the  whole  unbroken  by  deep  ravines,  and 
scarcely-indented  valleys." 

Horizontal  Seams — Monongahela  Valley. — It  is 
noticeable  that  the  various  seams  of  coal  in  this 
region  deviate  but  little  from  the  horizontal ;  in 
consequence,  the  coal  is  easily  taken  out,  and  the 
mines  are  self-draining.  The  dip  is  so  gradual  that, 
starting  on  the  southern  line  of  the  State,  on  the 
upper  Monongahela,  the  seams,  in  about  fifty  miles, 
attain  an  elevation  of  at  least  three  hundred  feet 
above  the  river,  where  the  coal  crops  out  on  the  top 
of  the  hill.  Now  comes  a  break  on  a  line  running 
east  and  west,  and  the  seam  drops  down  to  the 
water's  edge.  This  is  near  the  city  of  Brownsville. 
This  striking  feature  arrested  the  attention  of  the 
celebrated  English  geologist,  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  when 
visiting,  as  a  scientist,  this  locality.  After  expressing 
his  astonishment  at  the  magnitude  of  this  seam  of 
coal,  he  says,  "  Horizontal  galleries  may  be  driven 
everywhere  at  very  little  expense,  and  so  worked  as 
to  drain  themselves,  while  the  cars  laden  with  coal, 


Coal  beneath  the  Main  Seam.  55 

and  attached  to  each  other,  glide  down  on  a  railway 
so  as  to  deliver  their  burden  into  barges  moored  to 
the  river's  bank."  (Elements  of  Geology,  p.  Jp2.)  No 
doubt  Sir  Charles's  amazement  was  increased  as  he 
compared  the  ease  with  which  this  coal  was  mined 
with  the  difficulties  of  mining  coal  in  his  native  land, 
where  the  seams  are  scarcely  more  than  four  feet  in 
thickness,  and  the  dip  is  so  great  that  already  a  depth 
of  1,000  to  2,600  feet  has  been  reached,  thereby  the 
labor  of  digging  and  hoisting  the  coal  has  been  in- 
creased enormously,  while,  to  free  the  mines  of 
water  by  pumping,  has  equally  increased  the  ex- 
pense. 

Coal  beneath  the  Pittsburg  Seam. — The  gradual 
rising  of  the  main  coal-seam  is  repeated ;  for,  start- 
ing from  the  river's  edge  at  Brownsville,  where  it- 
dropped,  it  gradually  rises,  and,  forty  miles  distant, 
crops  out  300  feet  above  the  river,  on  the  hills  just 
south  of  Pittsburg.  At  that  point  it  drops  again,  but 
much  farther,  so  that  the  seams  of  coal  are  now  from 
140  to  1 80  feet  below  the  surface,  they  underlying 
the  city  itself.  These  seams  have  been  reached  by 
means  of  shafts. 

From  this  and  other  indications,  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  these  lower  beds  or  seams  of  coal 
pervade  that  entire  region,  and  that  they  are  only 
portions  of  a  series  of  coal-beds  that  lie  far  below  the 
Pittsburg  seam.  Geologists  say  that  in  the  vicinity 
of  Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  "the  lower  series  of 
coal-beds  are  resting  upon  the  conglomerate  600  or 


56  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

700  feet  below  the  Pittsburg  seam."  "  The  coal-beds 
of  the  lower  coal-measures  must  underlie  the  whole 
of  this  vast  area,  at  a  greater  or  less  depth  beneath 
the  general  dip  of  the  strata,  westerly."  (Coal  Regions, 
etc.,  p.  283.)  Similar  seams  of  coal  have  also  been 
reached  in  boring  for  salt-water  near  Greensburg 
and  at  Conemaugh,  both  east  of  Pittsburg,  while  on 
the  upper  Monongahela,  some  ninety  miles  south, 
near  Clarksburg,  a  seam  of  coal,  eleven  feet  thick, 
was  passed  through  under  similar  circumstances. 
The  latter  was  far  below  the  river,  while  above  it, 
in  the  hill-side,  are  several  seams,  one  above  another. 
Recently  (1886),  in  drilling  for  gas  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fayette  City,  thirty  miles  south  of  Pittsburg,  the 
drill  passed  through  a  seam  of  coal  nine  feet  in  thick- 
ness, and  at  a  depth  of  600  feet  below  the  river. 

The  Characteristic  Change. — About  thirty  miles 
southeast  of  Pittsburg,  up  the  Youghiogheny,  the 
quality  of  the  coal  begins  to  change,  and  in  the  suc- 
ceeding twenty  miles  the  seam  itself  grows  larger, 
until  it  reaches  from  nine  to  eleven  feet  in  thickness, 
terminating  in  what  is  known  as  the  Connellsville 
coke  basin.  The  latter  takes  its  name  from  the  vil- 
lage near  its  center,  where  the  characteristics  of  this 
coal  were  discovered  and  first  utilized  in  converting 
it  into  coke.  This  trough  or  basin  extends  along  the 
western  base  of  the  Chestnut  Ridge  for  almost  ninety 
miles,  from  near  the  village  of  Blairsville  to  beyond 
Uniontown,  in  Fayette  County,  and  to  the  West 
Virginia  line.  The  area  of  this  entire  basin  is  esti- 


The   Two  Questions.  57 

mated  at  200  square  miles.  Strictly  speaking,  the 
Connellsville  basin  is  not  more  than  twenty  or 
twenty-five  miles  in  length,  but  its  northern  portion 
extends  from  Latrobe,  on  the  Pennsylvania  Central, 
"  through  a  part  of  Westmoreland,  and  through 
Indiana  and  Clearfield  Counties."  The  coal  of  this 
latter  portion  is  deemed  inferior  to  the  Connellsville 
as  a  coking  material.  The  Youghiogheny  River 
cuts  through  the  Chestnut  Ridge  near  the  latter 
village,  and  also,  at  that  point,  runs  across  the  basin ; 
this  outlying  ridge  or  range  is  lower  than,  but  runs 
parallel  with,  the  Alleghanies. 

The  Two  Questions. — An  interesting  question 
arises  in  respect  to  this  basin  of  coal  being  so  much 
deeper  and  so  much  richer  in  the  elements,  carbon 
and  bitumen,  than  the  other  portions  of  this  great 
seam.  Theory  explains  that  in  that  part  of  the 
Alleghany  field  there  was,  in  the  Carboniferous  age, 
a  much  denser  growth  than  elsewhere  of  those 
specially  juicy  plants — ferns,  for  instance — and  other 
vegetable  materials,  the  outcome  of  which  is  that 
peculiar  grade  of  coal.  Another  question  may  arise : 
What  is  the  advantage  of  coking  this  coal  before 
using  it  in  furnaces  or  in  foundries,  where  great  heat 
is  required  ?  The  ingredient  in  bituminous  coal  that 
produces  nearly  all  the  heat  is  carbon,  while  the 
bitumen  and  gaseous  matter  passes  off  in  smoke  and 
flame.  By  removing  these  volatile  ingredients  in 
the  process  of  coking,  we  obtain  the  carbon  in  the 
form  of  coke,  in  which  is  concentrated  the  heating 


58  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

power  of  the  original  coal.  This  coke,  when  under 
blast,  uniting  with  the  oxygen  of  the  air  which  is 
forced  in,  generates  a  heat  so  intense  as  to  drive  off 
or  consume  the  extraneous  matter  in  the  ore,  and 
likewise  melt  the  iron  itself  most  thoroughly.  Anal- 
yses show  that  coke  derived  from  raw  coal  having, 
say,  60  per  cent  carbon,  will  contain,  in  this  concen- 
trated form,  nearly  90  per  cent  of  the  same. 

The  Excellence  of  the  Coke.— This  Connellsville 
coal  has  in  it  a  greater  amount  of  carbon  than  any 
other  portion  of  the  Pittsburg  seam.  It  is  remark- 
ably free  from  impurities,  such  as  sulphur  and  phos- 
phorus, and  the  ingredients  that  leave  ashes.  In 
consequence  of  these  traits,  the  coke  obtained  from 
it  has  superior  qualities  for  smelting  and  producing 
a  pure  article  of  iron,  and  for  preparing  the  latter 
to  be  easily  converted  into  steel  by  the  Bessemer 
process  (p.  150).  This  coal  averages  about  60  per 
cent  of  fixed  carbon,  and  this,  combined  with  its 
purity,  seems,  when  taken  as  a  whole,  the  finest 
coke  known.  The  latter  "  is  compact,  silvery,  and 
lustrous " ;  is  harder,  heavier,  and  more  condensed 
than  ordinary  cokes.  "  Its  greater  density  enables 
it  to  sustain  more  weight  in  the  furnace  than  any 
other  quality,  and  it  is  therefore  specially  adapted 
to  use  in  blast-furnaces  and  in  the  cupola  of  the 
foundry."  These  qualities  cause  this  coke  to  be 
used  more  or  less — it  being  also  often  mixed  with 
raw  coal — throughout  the  Western  States,  and  in  a 
moderate  extent  in  the  Eastern  and  Southern,  in 


West  Virginia  Coal.  59 

all  industries  in  which  great  heat  is  required.  As 
the  materials  for  making  coke  are  coextensive  with 
the. greater  portion  of  our  bituminous  coal-fields  of 
the  Carboniferous  age,  we  will  mention  the  fact 
only  when  occasion  requires  us  to  state  that  the 
coal  is  not  susceptible  of  being  coked. 

West  Virginia  Coal-Field. — This  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  States  in  the  Union  in  respect  to 
its  mineral  wealth,  as,  in  proportion  to  its  size,  it 
is  the  richest  in  coal,  iron,  salt,  and  oil.  It  has  of 
coal,  both  bituminous  and  cannel,  at  least  16,000 
square  miles.  The  seams  vary  from  three  to  twelve 
feet  in  thickness ;  in  some  instances,  where  they  are 
one  above  another,  the  aggregate  depth  is  as  high 
as  twenty-five  feet ;  and,  in  mining  the  coal,  all  are 
very  easy  of  access.  Nine  tenths  of  the  valley  of 
the  Guyandotte  River,  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  State,  are  underlaid  with  seams  of  coal,  while 
in  the  northern  part, .in  the  vicinity  of  Wheeling, 
in  addition  to  the  Pittsburg  seam,  another  one  of 
fine  bituminous  coal  has  been  discovered  300  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  Ohio.  For  aught  we  know, 
this  seam  may  extend  under  that  whole  region ; 
the  indications  are  that  it  may  be  connected  with 
the  seam  under  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  already  men- 
tioned. 

Coal  is  also  found  in  great  abundance  in  the 
hills  along  the  upper  Monongahela,  in  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  its  tributaries,  especially  in  the  vicinity 
of  Clarksburg.  Here  the  main  seam  is  from  ten 


6o  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

to  twelve  feet  in  thickness,  below  which  is  still 
another,  somewhat  thinner,  but  of  a  coal  more 
highly  bituminous.  Cannel  coal  also  abounds  in 
this  region.  In  the  central  portions  of  the  State, 
as  in  the  valley  oi  the  Kanawha,  along  whose  banks 
crop  out  large  seams  of  coal,  and  on  the  hill-sides, 
especially  on  Coal  River,  one  of  the  latter's  tribu- 
taries. In  Ritchie  County,  near  the  center  of  the 
State,  is  a  remarkable  mineral  deposit,  "a  vein  of 
asphaltum  (compact  native  bitumen),  four  and  a  half 
feet  thick,  more  than  three  fifths  of  a  mile  long, 
and  of  unknown  depth.  It  fills  a  great  fissure, 
which  breaks  through  the  rocks  nearly  perpendicu- 
lar, and  outcrops  on  the  surface."  Its  analysis 
shows  55  per  cent  volatile  matter,  42  per  cent  fixed 
carbon,  and  3  per  cent  ashes.  This  is  used  for 
gas-making  purposes.  It  is  similar  to  the  Albertite 
of  New  Brunswick  (p.  99).  The  deposit  itself  has, 
no  doubt,  some  connection  with  petroleum.  The 
famous  Peytona  cannel-coal  seam,  about  six  feet  in 
thickness,  is  on  Coal  River,  twenty-five  miles  from 
its  mouth.  This  coal  is  of  an  unusually  excellent 
quality. 

Eastern  Kentucky  Coal-Field. — This  is  a  con- 
tinuation, from  West  Virginia,  of  the  Alleghany 
field.  The  northern  limit  of  this  coal-field  is  on  the 
Ohio,  opposite  the  town  of  Portsmouth,  but  it  ex- 
tends southeasterly  along  the  western  slope  of  the 
Alleghanies,  here  called  Cumberland,  and  underlies 
the  head-streams  of  the  Big  Sandy  and  the  Cum- 


Tennessee  Coal.  61 

berland  Rivers,  while  in  some  instances  the  coal- 
seams  are  found  half-way  up  the  sides  of  the  mount- 
ain. The  entire  coal  area  in  this  part  of  the  State 
is  9,000  square  miles.  It  has  several  seams,  the 
main  one  being  nearly  seven  feet  of  pure  coal. 
Eastern  Kentucky  is  not  only  rich  in  this  coal-field, 
but  in  this  connection  it  possesses  also  a  vast  amount 
of  iron-ore,  and  an  abundance  of  limestone. 

The  Tennessee  Coal-Field.— The  coal-seams  of 
East  Tennessee  are  peculiarly  situated,  as  they  oc- 
cupy a  mountain-plateau,  2,000  feet  above  the  ocean, 
and  from  900  to  1,200  feet  above  the  valley  of  East 
Tennessee,  already  noticed  as  the  southern  end  of 
the  great  valley  on  the  Atlantic  slope  (p.  40).  There 
are  some  remarkable  geological  features  connected 
with  this  plateau,  but  to  notice  which  is  beyond 
the  scope  of  this  volume.  (Coal  Regions,  etc.,  p.  365.) 
The  eastern  line  of  this  coal-field  of  5,100  square 
miles  is  parallel  with  Cumberland  Mountain,  and 
also  of  the  valley,  and,  while  that  line  is  quite 
regular,  the  western  side,  though  trending  in  a 
southwestern  direction,  is  very  irregular.  The  val- 
ley of  East  Tennessee  is  drained  by  the  rivers 
Holston,  French  Broad,  and  Tennessee.  It  is  a 
fine  agricultural  region,  having  a  fertile  soil,  for 
here  abound  limestone  ledges,  as  well  as  iron-ore 
and  coal  near  at  hand.  On  the  southern  border  of 
the  State,  near  the  Georgia  line,  are  the  Chatta- 
nooga coal-mines,  having  the  same  peculiarity  of 
being  on  the  summit  of  Lookout  Mountain. 


62  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

As  we  find  so  often  in  other  coal-fields,  one 
prominent  seam  pervades  the  whole  area,  thus  the 
Sewanee  seam  is  found  in  the  main  Tennessee 
coal-region  to  furnish  a  larger  amount  of  coal  than 
any  other  single  seam  in  the  State.  This  coal  has 
excellent  properties,  though  it  varies  somewhat  in 
its  characteristics  in  different  localities.  It  is  deemed 
a  good  coking  coal,  and  is  effective  in  producing 
steam ;  it  is  almost  free  from  sulphur,  and  is  excel- 
lent for  domestic  use.  The  largest  coal-mining 
operations  in  the  State  are  in  connection  with  this 
seam.  The  mines  are  within  the  Little  Sequatchie 
Valley,  and  the  vicinity  of  Tracy  City  may  be  taken 
as  the  main  site  of  these  mining  operations,  while 
on  the  head- waters  of  the  Sequatchie,  in  the  north- 
eastern portion  of  the  valley,  are  many  coal-seams 
that  are  worked. 

Alabama  Coal-Field. — In  its  northern  portion, 
amid  the  mountains  and  highlands  of  the  southern 
extremities  of  the  Alleghanies,  Alabama  is  rich  in 
mines  of  coal  and  iron,  lying  almost  side  by  side. 
The  area  of  the  coal-fields  of  the  State  may  be 
safely  estimated  at  5,500  square  miles.  The  famous 
Black  Warrior  field,  thus  named  from  the  river  that 
runs  over  its  surface,  has  much  the  larger  portion 
of  this  coal — about  5,000  square  miles. 

The  Cahawba  field  is  long  and  narrow,  and  the 
Coosa  field— both  named  from  the  rivers  in  whose 
valleys  are  the  coal-seams — make  up  the  remainder  of 
the  coal  area.  The  coal  of  the  Black  Warrior  basin 


Georgia  Coal-Field.  6  3 

is  represented  as  equal  in  heating  power  to  the  simi- 
lar varieties  of  coal  in  the  more  northern  portions  of 
the  Alleghany  bituminous  field :  some  are  dry  burn- 
ing, others  coking,  having  about  65  per  cent  of  fixed 
carbon,  while  others  contain  more  volatile  matter. 
The  fixed  carbon  in  the  coals  of  these  several  fields 
range  from  56  to  66  per  cent,  while  the  seams  range 
in  thickness  from  three  to  seven  feet ;  that  between 
the  Coosa  and  the  Black  Warrior,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Birmingham,  is  nearly  five  feet. 

Here  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  coal,  iron-ore, 
and  limestone,  being  found  near  one  another  in  a 
native  state.  Beds  of  iron-ore  of  the  red  or  brown 
hematite  variety  abound  in  Red  Mountain  —  thus 
named  from  its  red  soil,  caused  by  oxide  of  iron. 
This  range  is  twenty-five  miles  long  and  a  number 
of  miles  wide ;  on  both  sides  of  it  are  coal-fields,  as 
if  the  long  mountain  had  been  pushed  up  in  the 
midst  of  the  latter.  In  a  central  position,  between 
the  Black  Warrior  and  the  Coosa  Rivers,  amid  these 
coal-fields  and  deposits  of  iron-ore,  has  been  founded, 
since  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  the  city  of  Birming- 
ham, which  is  making  rapid  strides  toward  becom- 
ing a  center  of  the  industries  pertaining  to  the  manu- 
facture of  iron.  It  is  situated  in  a  beautiful  valley, 
eighty  miles  long  and  ten  wide,  and  which  is  pene- 
trated by  a  number  of  railways. 

Georgia  Coal-Field. — In  almost  immediate  con- 
nection with  the  northeastern  coal-field  of  Alabama 
may  be  mentioned  the  limited  field  located  in  North- 


64  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

western  Georgia ;  the  latter's  area  is  only  about  two 
hundred  square  miles.  There  are  in  this  field,  be- 
longing to  the  region  of  Lookout  Mountain,  five 
s.eams  of  coal.  These  vary  much  in  their  thickness, 
ranging  from  one  to  five  feet.  For  some  unex- 
plained reason  the  coal  of  this  field  is  not  of  the 
best  quality. 

Ohio  Coal-Field. — We  come  now  to  treat  of  that 
portion  of  the  Alleghany  coal-field  that  lies  in  North- 
eastern Ohio,  and  to  some  extent  in  Northwestern 
Pennsylvania.  All  the  streams  of  this  coal-basin  take 
a  south  or  southeastern  course  toward  the  Ohio 
River,  as  we  have  seen  those  of  the  other  fields,  and 
with  only  one  exception  flowing  to  the  same  river. 
The  latter  flows  northerly  into  Lake  Erie.  The  field 
within  the  State  of  Ohio  is  about  180  miles  in  length 
by  eighty  in  the  widest  part,  and  has  an  area  of 
workable  coal  of  at  least  10,000  square  miles.  This 
coal-region  lies  on  the  northwest  side  of  the  Ohio 
River,  whose  general  course  it  follows  in  a  south- 
west direction  from  the  vicinity  of  Youngstown  to 
Ironton ;  some  miles  from  the  latter  town,  the  river, 
having  changed  its  course,  commences  to  flow 
toward  the  northwest  across  the  coal-field ;  mean- 
while, in  cutting  its  channel,  it  carried  away  the 
coal  that  impeded  its  progress. 

The  Ohio  coal-seams  are  very  regular,  and  have 
a  gentle  inclination ;  the  strata  appear  never  to  have 
been  disturbed  by  internal  convulsions.  There  are 
three  classes  of  coal  in  this  field.  The  dry,  open- 


The   Three  Classes  of  CoaL  65 

burning,  or  furnace-coals  (block),  coals  that  coke,  and 
cannel  —  the  latter  extending  across  the  line  into 
Pennsylvania.  The  most  important  portion  of  this 
field  is  in  the  northeastern  part,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Youngstown,  together  with  the  Mahoning  Valley. 
The  main  seam  of  the  latter  is  the  most  valuable  in 
the  State ;  it  is  of  workable  thickness,  very  pure,  and 
well  adapted,  even  in  a  raw  state,  for  smelting  iron- 
ores.  This  coal  is  also  very  compact,  and  comes  out 
in  large  blocks ;  hence  it  is  called  by  the  miners 
"  block-coal "  (p.  66).  In  the  Mahoning  Valley  is 
also  a  vast  deposit  of  iron-ore.  These  two  advantages 
combined  have  made  this  the  most  important  region 
for  the  manufacture  of  iron  within  the  State.  The 
Hocking  River  Valley  coal-seam  underlies  an  area 
of  six  hundred  square  miles,  and  has  a  thickness  rang- 
ing from  six  to  eleven  feet,  while  it  is  remarkably 
uniform  in  its  structure  and  pure  in  its  composition. 
The  cannel  coals  of  this  State  have  a  large  percentage 
of  hydrogen,  and  the  gas  obtained  from  them  has 
in  consequence  a  highly  illuminating  power.  The 
presence  of  this  large  proportion  of  hydrogen  is,  in 
theory,  attributed  to  the  process  by  which  these  coals 
were  formed,  the  deposit  being  in  lagoons  of  open 
water  in  the  coal-marshes,  on  the  bottoms  of  which 
was  accumulated  the  carbon  of  the  vegetable  tissue 
steeped  or  macerated  in  the  water,  together  with  a 
large  amount  of  the  remains  of  all  kinds  of  fishes 

and  other  aquatic  animals. 
6 


VII. 

THE  CENTRAL  COAL-FIELD. 

THIS  field  occupies  an  area  of  50,000  square  miles, 
the  coal  underlying  parts  of  three  States,  in  the  fol- 
lowing proportions:  35,000  in  Illinois,  10,000  in  In- 
diana, and  5,000  in  Western  Kentucky.  The  latter 
is  separated  from  the  two  former  by  the  Ohio  River, 
while  the  Wabash  is  the  dividing  line  between  the 
fields  of  the  first  two  States.  The  coal  of  the  central 
field  is  bituminous,  but  its  good  qualities,  upon  the 
whole,  are  not  quite  equal  to  those  of  the  same  class 
of  coals  in  the  Alleghany  field,  the  latter  having,  for 
the  most  part,  more  fixed  carbon  and  less  water. 
To  this  statement  there  is  one  great  exception. 

Block-Coal. — A  deposit  of  coal,  having  peculiar 
characteristics,  was  accidentally  discovered  (1869), 
when  sinking  a  well  at  Brazil,  in  the  State  of  In- 
diana, then  an  obscure  station  on  the  Indianapolis 
and  Terre  Haute  Railway,  about  sixteen  miles  from 
the  latter  place.  The  coal  lies  eighty  feet  below  the 
surface  of  the  prairie.  This  seam  has  since  been 
traced,  with  few  interruptions,  from  about  one  hun- 
dred miles  south  of  Lake  Michigan  to  near  the  Ohio 


Block- Coal.  67 

River,  a  distance  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles.  Deposits  of  block-coal  have  since  been  dis- 
covered in  many  places  in  Indiana  and  also  in  Illinois, 
and  numerous  mines  have  been  opened  in  both  States. 
The  block-coal  area  around  Brazil  is  about  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  square  miles,  and  the  total  depth,  in- 
cluding all  the  seams,  is  twenty -eight  feet ;  some  of 
these,  however,  are  too  thin  to  be  workable,  but  the 
one  available  is  six  feet  thick. 

It  is  named  "  block-coal,"  by  the  miners,  from 
the  formation  of  the  coal  itself,  which  in  the  mine  is 
in  cubic  blocks,  two  or  three  feet  long,  and  a  foot  or 
more  wide.  No  one  can  explain  its  peculiar  forma- 
tion nor  its  perfect  regularity.  It  is  a  mineral  char- 
coal slightly  connected  with  bitumen,  and  so  pure, 
for  the  most  part,  that  when  handled  it  scarcely 
soils.  It  burns  with  a  bright-yellowish  flame  and 
crackling  noise,  is  quite  free  from  sulphur,  and  does 
not  clinker ;  the  block  when  burning  retains  its  shape 
till  reduced  to  ashes,  the  latter  being  as  white  and 
flocculent  as  those  of  hickory-wood.  When  analyzed 
it  gives  from  57  to  62  per  cent  of  fixed  carbon,  and 
a  small  amount  of  water  and  of  ash,  while  there  is 
scarcely  a  trace  of  sulphur.  The  structure  is  lami- 
nated or  in  layers,  in  one  direction  splitting  easily, 
but  not  in  the  other.  In  smelting  iron-ore  the  blocks 
retain  their  shape  to  such  an  extent  that  the  blast 
and  flame  find  an  easy  passage  through  the  entire 
mass  of  fuel,  ore,  and  flux.  Thus,  for  making  iron 
direct  from  the  ore  this  raw  coal  is  not  surpassed  by 


68  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

any  other,  and  yet  its  efficiency  is  greatly  enhanced 
by  being  mixed  with  the  famed  coke  of  Connells- 
ville. 

Block-Coal  utilized. — We  have  already  noticed 
that  the  materials  for  making  iron  are  often  near 
one  another,  but  at  Brazil  there  are  only  two  in 
proximity — limestone  and  coal ;  the  ore  has  to  be 
obtained  elsewhere.  Experiment  shows  that  the 
mixture  of  iron-ores  from  Lake  Superior  and  from 
Iron  Mountain,  Missouri,  can  be  used  with  the  best 
results  to  produce  steel  by  the  Bessemer  process. 
When  the  good  properties  of  the  block-coal  became 
known,  enterprising  gentlemen  determined  to  utilize 
it  in  making  iron  and  steel.  It  was  found  easier  to 
bring  the  ores  from  Lake  Superior  and  from  Iron 
Mountain  to  the  coal,  rather  than  seek  some  central 
position  to  which  both  the  ores  and  the  fuel  must  be 
brought.  A  number  of  railways  have  extended  their 
lines  so  as  to  reach  this  coal-field,  or  to  connect  with 
others  that  do.  There  are  in  operation  at  Brazil 
some  half-dozen  or  more  furnaces  for  making  iron, 
and  this  hitherto  obscure  railroad-station  has  become 
a  center  for  that  manufacture.  The  block-coal  is 
carried  in  immense  quantities  to  numerous  iron  fur- 
naces and  foundries  in  the  West,  and  north  to  the 
works  on  the  lakes  for  smelting  copper  as  well  as 
iron.  Specimens  of  coal  taken  from  twelve  separate 
localities  in  the  State,  when  analyzed,  range  from  46 
to  63  per  cent  of  fixed  carbon,  while  the  average  of 
the  whole  is  53. 


Illinois  Block-Coal.  69 

Illinois  Coal-Field. — In  this  State  the  discovery 
of  coal  was  made  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago 
by  Father  Hennepin,  a  French  missionary  to  the 
Indians.  He  noticed  the  outcrop  near  where  now 
stands  the  city  of  Ottawa,  and  recorded  the  fact  in 
his  journal,  which  was  afterward  published,  and  is 
said  to  be  the  earliest  notice  in  print  of  the  existence 
of  coal  within  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States. 

The  coal  of  this  large  field  is  unfortunately  more 
or  less  injured  by  the  presence  of  sulphur,  except  the 
portion  that  belongs  to  the  block  variety.  To  free 
it  from  this  injurious  compound  is  a  very  difficult 
operation ;  it  can  be  done  only  by  coking,  and  that 
often  fails. 

Illinois  Block-Coal. — The  most  valuable  coal  dis- 
trict of  the  State  is  that  of  the  iron-smelting  block- 
coal  in  the  vicinity  of  Carbondale,  in  Jackson  County, 
of  which  about  one  half  is  underlaid  with  block-coal. 
The  latter  partakes  of  the  qualities  of  the  same  va- 
riety found  at  Brazil,  in  Indiana.  This  coal  deposit 
has  the  advantage  of  being  within  easy  distance  of 
St.  Louis,  and  almost  directly  opposite  the  immense 
deposits  of  iron-ore  found  in  the  famous  Iron  Mount- 
ain in  Missouri.  This  pure  coal  is  peculiar  in  being 
in  two  seams,  one  of  three  feet  in  thickness,  the  other 
of  two,  while  between  them  is  a  partition  of  a  few 
inches  or  more  of  shale,  which  is  easily  removed. 
It  is  hard  and  bright,  and  the  layers  are  separated 
by  a  sort  of  mineral  charcoal.  The  coal  itself  has 
66.5  per  cent  carbon,  and  volatile  matter  25 ;  the 


7o  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

remainder  moisture  and  ashes — the  latter  being  only 
about  3  per  cent. 

Geologists  say  there  are  altogether  sixteen  differ- 
ent seams  of  coal  within  the  boundaries  of  this  State. 
These  are  never  all  found  in  one  locality,  neither  are 
they  uniform  in  thickness  nor  in  quality ;  some  ex- 
tend over  large  areas,  and  are  so  available  in  thick- 
ness as  to  be  easily  worked,  and,  not  being  far  below 
the  surface  of  the  prairie,  are  reached  by  means  of 
shafts.  The  latter  varies  in  depth  from  about  one 
hundred  feet  and  upward — 904  being  the  greatest 
thus  far  reached.  The  thickness  of  the  workable 
seams  also  varies  between  the  extremes  of  two  and 
a  half  feet  and  ten.  Between  these  extremes,  the 
seams  are,  generally,  from  four  and  a  half  to  seven 
feet  in  thickness,  and  upon  the  whole  the  coal  is 
easily  mined,  the  seams  being  horizontal  and  parallel 
to  one  another,  and  so  extensive  as  to  be  in  abun- 
dance for  all  purposes,  while  the  presumption  is  that 
there  are  still  more  areas  to  be  discovered  within 
the  borders  of  the  State. 


FIG.  9.— Illinois  Coal-Field  (after  Daddow). 

Western  Kentucky  Coal-Field.— It  has  been  re- 
marked that  the  coal  under  the  prairies  is  reached 
by  shafts  ranging  from  eighty  to  four  hundred  feet 


Michigan   Coal-Field.  71 

in  depth,  but  south  of  the  Ohio  it  is  different.  The 
Western  Kentucky  field  belongs  to  the  great  inclined 
plane  previously  mentioned  (page  49),  and  this  ac- 
counts for  the  seams  of  coal  being  generally  above 
the  streams  and  in  the  hills ;  the  latter  in  some  re- 
spects are  quite  remarkable.  In  one  instance  near 
the  village  of  Providence,  in  one  hill-side  within  the 
space  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  are  found 
three  seams  of  different  kinds  of  coal,  each  from  five 
to  six  feet  in  thickness.  In  this  field  are  seams  of 
valuable  cannel  coal,  as  well  as  the  ordinary  bitumi- 
nous. They  border  on  the  Ohio,  and  extend  south- 
ward up  the  rivers  and  valleys.  Over  this  entire 
coal  area  there  are  at  least  two  workable  seams ;  the 
latter  are  easy  of  access,  and  afford  great  facilities  for 
mining.  Says  one  authority :  "  In  this  continuous 
coal-bank,  in  the  heart  of  a  fertile  country,  is  a  min- 
eral wealth  of  more  real  value  than  the  gold  of  Cali- 
fornia. Here  is  a  series  of  high  hills,  which  from 
the  base  to  the  top  look  like  a  succession  of  coal, 
iron-ore,  and  limestone  strata,  heaped  there  as  an  in- 
ducement to  labor,  capital,  and  enterprise." 

Michigan  Coal -Field. — This  deposit  of  coal  is 
located  in  the  central  portion  of  the  State,  and  be- 
tween the  Lakes  Huron  and  Michigan.  The  seams 
are  few,  only  two  are  definitely  known,  and,  when 
compared  with  the  fields  elsewhere,  are  thin.  Of 
these  one  pervades  the  whole  formation ;  it  ranges 
in  depth  from  three  feet  to  five.  The  coal  of  this 
field  in  quality  is  very  bituminous ;  when  burning  it 


72  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

blazes  with  a  bright  and  strong  flame,  but  is  deficient 
in  heat-producing  properties,  as  it  contains  only  45 
per  cent  of  carbon  to  49  of  volatile  matter,  and  ash 
2  per  cent,  the  remainder  being  sulphur  and  water. 
The  extent  of  the  workable  coal  area  of  this  State  is 
about  7,000  square  miles.  "  It  belongs  to  the  great 
Carboniferous  formation  of  the  Alleghany  field,"  and 
the  shales  are  rich  in  the  remains  of  terrestrial  vege- 
tation, such  as  specimens  of  fern-leaves  in  a  beautiful 
state  of  preservation. 

lowaCoal-Field. — The  coal  area  immediately  west 
of  and  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  evidently  be- 
longed originally  to  the  central  field,  from  which  it 
was  separated  by  the  Father  of  Waters.  There  is 
no  very  essential  difference  between  the  properties 
of  the  coals  of  the  two  fields.  That  of  Iowa  contains 
from  45  to  50  per  cent  of  fixed  carbon,  and  from  35 
to  40  per  cent  of  volatile  bituminous  matter.  The 
great  body  of  the  coal  area  of  this  State — 16,000 
square  miles — is  in  the  south  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  State,  commencing  north  of  Fort  Dodge,  and 
following  the  valley  of  the  Des  Moines  River.  The 
seam  worked  at  the  former  place  is  from  five  to  six 
feet  thick ;  this,  perhaps,  is  the  most  important  por- 
tion of  the  coal  area  of  the  State.  There  appear  to 
be  at  least  two  workable  seams  pervading  the  State, 
but  as  to  their  thickness  they  are  quite  irregular, 
the  lower  one  being  the  most  reliable  as  to  quality, 
as  it  contains  less  sulphur.  Toward  the  northern 
portion  of  the  State  the  coal-measures  disappear  ai- 


Missouri  Coal-Field.  73 

most  entirely.  Limestone  is  here  found  everywhere 
in  connection  with  the  coal.  "  Much  of  the  Iowa 
coal  is  evidently  of  an  inferior  quality,  owing  to  the 
presence  of  so  large  a  quantity  of  sulphur,  moisture, 
and  other  impurities."  (Coal  Regions,  etc.,  p.  4.61.) 

Missouri  Coal-Field.  —  The  bituminous  coal  of 
Missouri  has  properties  similar  to  that  of  Iowa,  and 
it  extends  from  the  southern  line  of  the  latter  State 
southward  to  beyond  the  latitude  of  Sedalia  and  Jef- 
ferson City,  trending  to  the  southwest,  but  northwest 
of  the  Osage  River.  The  Missouri  River  runs  across 
this  field,  dividing  it  into  two  unequal  parts.  The 
coal  of  Missouri  has  the  general  characteristics  of  that 
of  Iowa,  and  is  also  reached  by  shafts,  the  depth  of 
which  depends  upon  the  undulations  of  the  surface, 
as  the  seams  are  horizontal,  or  with  very  little  dip. 
The  depths  of  the  shafts  are  sometimes  as  low  as 
twenty-two  feet,  but  often  down  to  forty.  The  coal- 
seams  reached  vary  in  thickness  from  two  to  five 
feet.  The  entire  coal  area  of  the  State  is,  accord- 
ing to  Prof.  Swallow,  State  Geologist,  27,000  square 
miles.  The  coal  from  a  prominent  seam  was  proved 
to  contain  53  per  cent  of  fixed  carbon. 

We  leave  these  regular  seams,  to  speak  of  a 
unique  class  of  coal  deposits.  These  singular  beds 
are  limited  in  extent,  but  are  numerous  and  unusu- 
ally deep  or  thick,  and  of  course  do  not  partake  of 
the  regularity  that  is  found  in  seams.  They  are 
located  in  what  appear  to  have  been  ravines  or 
deep  valleys,  and  geology  says  amid  the  older  rocks, 


74  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

below  the  level  of  the  regular  seams  of  coal.  These 
deposits  furnish  cannel  of  the  common  bituminous 
variety,  and  some  of  the  best  coal  in  the  State  for 
making  gas,  and  producing  an  abundance  of  flame. 
These  immense  beds  are  in  thickness  from  twenty  to 
forty  feet ;  they  are  found  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Osage  River,  and  at  the  same  point  on  both  sides  of 
the  Missouri.  This  coal  has  a  little  more  than  51 
per  cent  of  carbon,  and  nearly  42  per  cent  of  volatile 
matter,  and  it  is  so  light  that  before  it  becomes  satu- 
rated it  will  float  in  water.  To  account  for  these 
singular  deposits  of  coal,  geologists  have  various 
theories.  One  is,  that  while  the  coal  material  was 
in  the  form  of  peat,  and  in  a  semi-fluid  state,  when 
upheavals  came  that  made  slopes  of  portions  of  the 
bottom  of  the  peat  thus  saturated,  and  it  sliding 
down  these  inclined  planes,  accumulated  in  masses 
within  these  lower  places,  and  afterward,  by  the 
action  of  heat  and  superincumbent  pressure,  the 
whole  mass  was  transformed  into  coal. 

Kansas  Coal-Field. — This  is  a  continuation  of 
that  of  Iowa  and  of  Missouri.  Kansas  has  two 
coal-fields,  the  carboniferous  and  the  lignite.  The 
former  extends  across  the  eastern  portion  ol  the 
State  into  the  Indian  Territory,  being  in  length  208 
miles  north  and  south,  and  east  and  west  on  an 
average  107 ;  thus  the  east  end  of  the  State  has  22,256 
square  miles  of  coal.  It  lies  in  nearly  a  horizontal 
plane,  having  undergone  but  little  change  from  its 
original  position.  The  coal  is  reached  by  means  of 


Nebraska  Coal-Field.  75 

shafts  from  any  point  on  the  surface  of  the  prairie. 
Amid  these  coal-measures,  and  partially  coextensive 
with  them,  are  ledges  of  limestone. 

There  are  two  important  seams  of  coal  in  the 
State  belonging  to  what  geologists  term  the  lower 
measures.  These  seams  are  respectively  three  and 
six  feet  in  thickness,  while  the  upper  ones  are  much 
thinner,  so  that  they  are  seldom  available  for  work- 
ing. These  two  seams  mentioned  are  a  little  more 
than  one  hundred  feet  apart,  the  lower  one  being 
better  as  to  the  quality  of  the  coal  and  also  the 
thicker.  The  latter  is  about  three  hundred  feet  be- 
low the  surface  of  the  prairie.  The  deepest  shaft  in 
the  State  is  near  Leaven  worth ;  the  coal  is  712  feet 
below  the  surface.  The  greater  portion  of  the  coal 
found  in  Kansas  is  good ;  it  is  usually  free  from  sul- 
phur and  other  impurities ;  has  a  bright  appearance 
when  broken,  and  does  not  crumble  to  dust  by  hand- 
ling in  the  transporting ;  it  also  burns  with  the  clear 
white  flame  of  Pittsburg  coal,  and  owing  to  its  heat- 
ing properties  is  good  for  domestic  purposes,  and  is 
universally  used  for  the  same  reason  by  the  black- 
smiths in  welding  iron. 

Nebraska  Coal-Field. — This  contains  only  about 
3,600  square  miles  of  coal  area  thus  far  discovered  ; 
its  seams  are  generally  quite  thin,  though  the  coal 
partakes  of  the  properties  of  that  found  in  the  States 
adjoining.  In  boring  for  coal,  a  seam  of  two  feet  and 
a  half  was  found  820  feet  below  the  surface.  This 
field  appears  to  be  on  the  western  margin  of  the 


76  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

great  Carboniferous  coal-basin,  within  whose  limits 
were  prepared  such  immense  treasures  of  fuel. 

Arkansas  Coal-Field. — Geologically  speaking,  all 
the  coal  deposits  of  this  State  belong  to  the  lowest 
member  of  the  coal  formations ;  not  a  trace  of  coal 
has  been  found  on  or  near  the  tops  of  her  mountains 
or  highest  hills.  Two  seams  of  coal  have  been  dis- 
covered, but  only  the  lower  one  is  of  workable  thick- 
ness. The  best  seam,  however,  yet  found  in  the 
State,  is  near  the  mouth  of  Spadra  Creek,  a  tributary 
of  the  Arkansas.  It  is  a  semi-anthracite  or  semi- 
bituminous,  and  quite  as  rich  in  carbon  as  some  of 
the  minor  coals  of  the  Pennsylvania  anthracite  re- 
gion ;  the  average  percentage  of  carbon,  as  ascer- 
tained from  six  mines,  being  84.  That  is  richer — if 
the  analysis  is  correct — in  carbon  than  some  of  the 
semi-bituminous  coals  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland. 
It  is  pronounced,  as  far  as  known,  to  be  better  than 
any  other  Western  coal  for  manufacturing  purposes, 
where  intense  heat  and  durability  are  required.  The 
seams  range  in  thickness  from  four  feet  to  seven. 
They  crop  out  along  the  river,  while  there  are  indi- 
cations that  this  coal  extends  far  and  wide  in  the 
vicinity. 

It  is  a  puzzle  of  geology  to  account  for  this  de- 
posit of  semi-bituminous  coal,  as  the  formation  is 
level  and  undisturbed,  and  gives  little  evidence  of 
the  heat  and  pressure  requisite  to  transform  the 
original  mass  into  that  class  of  coal.  But  it  may  be 
suggested  that  as  the  Hot  Springs  are  distant  not 


Texas  Coal-Field.  77 

quite  one  hundred  miles,  why  may  not  the  heat,  that 
still  lingers  there  underneath  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
have  extended  at  one-  time  as  far  as  this  coal-field, 
and  thus  driven  off  the  volatile  matter  and  trans- 
formed the  original  mass  into  semi-bituminous  coal  ? 
The  coal  area  of  Arkansas,  thus  far  discovered,  is 
about  11,000  square  miles. 

The  Indian  Territory  has  a  coal  area  of  about 
12,000  square  miles,  but  its  fixed  carbon  is  quite 
low,  being  only  about  36  per  cent. 

Texas  Coal-Field. — In  the  northwestern  part  of 
this  State  bituminous  coal  is  found  on  the  banks  of 
the  Brazos  River,  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Belknap. 
The  seams  lie  horizontally,  and  are  from  two  to  five 
feet  thick.  The  characteristic  fossil  forms  of  the 
Carboniferous  age  are  found  in  connection  with  this 
coal,  and  the  fossils  obtained  from  the  carboniferous 
limestone  indicate  that  the  vegetable  ingredients  in 
the  coal  are  a  product  of  that  age.  The  coal  is  of 
fair  quality,  burns  freely,  and  leaves  a  white  or  gray 
ash ;  in  addition,  another  and  lower  seam,  sixty  feet 
beneath  the  surface,  was  discovered  in  sinking  a 
well.  The  coal  of  the  latter  can  be  taken  out  in 
large  blocks,  but  it  crumbles  somewhat  when  ex- 
posed to  the  atmosphere.  The  area  of  this  special 
field  is  estimated  at  5,000  square  miles,  while  that  of 
the  entire  State  is  estimated  at  25,000. 

The  Texan  coal-measures,  for  the  most  part,  have 
the  characteristic  carboniferous  fossils  of  the  central 
field,  and  the  coal  is  similar  in  its  general  properties. 


78  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

It  is  of  different  grades  of  excellence ;  while  in  one 
district  the  coal  contains  53  per  cent  of  carbon  and 
36  of  volatile  matter,  another  is  reported  as  having 
61  per  cent  of  carbon  and  36  of  volatile  matter,  and 
one  seam  near  the  town  of  Washington,  on  the  lower 
Brazos,  claims  to  have  75  per  cent  of  carbon  and  22 
per  cent  of  volatile  matter,  and  3  per  cent  of  ashes. 
The  latter  grades  are  equal  to  the  best  qualities  of 
the  bituminous  variety.  It  would  appear  that  the 
greater  portion,  if  not  the  entire  valley,  of  the  Brazos 
was  underlaid  with  coal.  In  the  southwest  portion 
of  the  State,  west  of  the  ninety-eighth  meridian,  is  an 
extensive  field  of  excellent  lignite  coal.  It  evidently 
underlies  the  upper  branches  of  the  Nueces,  and  "ex- 
tends along  the  Rio  Grande  from  Laredo  to  above 
Eagle  Pass,"  at  which  place  it  crosses  the  river  into 
Mexico.  This  coal  supplies  the  railways  in  that 
section,  and  is  shipped  on  them  to  the  adjacent 
cities.  A  fine  deposit  of  coal  has  been  recently  dis- 
covered on  the  Colorado  River — the  seam  four  feet 
thick. 

A  bituminous  coal-field  has  been  discovered  in 
Jack  County,  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  State. 
The  indications  are  that  the  field  is  extensive,  and 
the  coal  of  fair  quality.  The  seam  is  about  four  and 
a  half  feet  in  thickness. 

The  Extent  of  Pure  Carboniferous  Coal.— We 
here  close  our  survey  of  these  interesting  coal-fields, 
the  coal  of  which  is  the  product  of  the  same  Car- 
boniferous age,  but,  owing  to  certain  influences  in 


Extent  of  the  Carboniferous  CoaL         79 

the  economy  of  Nature  in  different  portions  of  the 
area,  the  coal  assumed  several  characteristic  phases. 
Hence  we  have  the  bituminous,  the  original  form  or 
base,  the  cannel,  the  semi-bituminous,  and  the  an- 
thracite. In  heating  power  and  value  for  the  pur- 
pose of  domestic  use  or  for  manufacturing  in  every 
form,  the  coal  of  this  Carboniferous  age  excels  all 
others.  Its  area  extends  from  the  eastern  margin  of 
the  anthracite  of  Pennsylvania,  except  a  few  inter- 
vals, to  Western  Iowa.  It  sweeps  along  the  eastern 
foot-hills  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  taking  in  the 
semi-bituminous,  and  on  their  western  slope  the  fa- 
mous field  known  as  the  Alleghany ;  it  includes  the 
central  field,  north  and  south  of  the  Ohio;  crosses 
the  Mississippi,  and  from  Northern  Iowa  passes 
south  over  three  States ;  then  diverging  to  the  south- 
west, underlies  portions  of  Arkansas,  of  the  Indian 
Territory,  and  of  East-Middle  Texas.  In  all,  this 
coal  area  of  the  Carboniferous  age  amounts  in  round 
numbers  to  205,000  square  miles.  Everywhere  the 
coal  contains  a  number  of  workable  seams  one  above 
another,  and  the  aggregate  depth  of  these,  when 
taken  together,  is  fairly  estimated  at  twenty  feet  of 
available  coal. 


VIII. 

LIGNITE,  OR  BROWN  COAL. 

IN  the  last  section  we  closed  our  review  of  the 
immense  coal  area  of  the  United  States,  which  was 
the  product  of  the  Carboniferous  age,  and  in  which 
coal  the  carbon  so  predominates  as  to  impart  to 
it  an  intense  heating  power.  We  come  now  to  treat 
of  the  product  of  a  later  Carboniferous  age — Creta- 
ceous (chalk)  or  Tertiary,  according  to  geology — 
in  the  coal  of  which  carbon  does  not  predominate 
so  much,  but  bitumen  and  gaseous  properties  more, 
constituting  a  variety  of  coal  of  less  heating  power, 
and  known  as  lignite.  The  transition  from  the  bitu- 
minous to  the  lignite  variety  commences  in  West- 
ern Kansas  near  where  the  9/th  meridian  line  in- 
tersects the  39th  parallel  of  north  latitude,  which 
point  of  intersection  closely  marks  the  territorial 
center  of  the  United  States,  not  including  Alaska. 
This  meridian  line,  thus  marking  the  transition  with 
but  little  variation,  extends  from  the  southern  border 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  to  the  ex- 
treme north  in  the  British  possessions,  for  the  lig- 
nite coal  has  been  traced  along  the  eastern  slope  of 


The  Marsh-Basin.  81 

the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  down  the  banks  of  the 
Mackenzie  River,  while  to  the  east  of  that  line  bitu- 
minous coal,  the  product  of  the  Carboniferous  age, 
is  found  on  Melville  Island,  in  the  Arctic  Archi- 
pelago. 

The  Marsh-Basin;  The  Plain.— In  theory  we 
can  imagine  that  long  before  the  era  of  the  Allegha- 
nies  and  other  upheavals,  the  portion  of  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  east  of  that  meridian  was 
for  the  most  part  a  vast  marsh  or  basin,  covered 
in  the  Carboniferous  age  by  a  rank  vegetation 
suited  to  a  moist  climate,  such  as  the  many  varie- 
ties of  ferns,  and  by  a  dense  undergrowth ;  and  in 
a  later  period,  west  of  the  same  line,  where  now 
stand  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  highlands  east  and 
west,  was  a  territory  that  was  undulatory  on  the 
surface,  and  covered  by  dense  forests  of  deciduous 
trees  which,  from  their  nature,  could  not  flourish  in 
a  climate  so  moist  as  that  of  the  Carboniferous  age. 
That  the  lignite  was  formed  from  the  product  of 
trees,  is  inferred  from  the  impressions  of  their  leaves 
imbedded  in  the  clay  beneath  the  coal.  These 
specimens  are  easily  recognized  by  their  veins,  as 
well  as  small  branches  and  the  woody  fiber,  look- 
ing like  charred  wood  or  soft  charcoal.  Here  are 
found  representatives  of  the  ordinary  forest-trees 
of  to-day,  such  as  oaks,  walnuts,  poplars,  beeches, 
sycamores,  elms,  lindens,  and  others  long  since  ex- 
tinct in  that  region.  Says  Prof.  Hayden,  of  the 
United  States  Survey,  "They"  (these  specimens) 


82  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

"  are  most  perfectly  preserved,  and  all  plainly  point 
to  a  period  far  back  in  the  geological  past,  when 
these  vast  treeless  regions  of  the  present  time  were 
covered  with  dense  forests." 

Ferns  and  Carbon. — There  being  no  trace  of 
ferns  in  the  lignite  variety,  is  an  evidence  that  the 
bituminous  coals,  in  whose  formation  the  ferns  so 
much  predominate,  owe  their  greater  heating  power 
to  the  carbon  thus  imparted  to  them.  Though  the 
heating  power  of  lignites  is  scarcely  sufficient  to 
prepare  iron  for  welding,  yet  its  power  to  produce 
flame  makes  it  an  excellent  fuel  for  generating 
steam,  as  the  flame  passes  easily  through  the  tubes 
within  the  boilers,  and  thus  makes  up  the  deficiency 
of  heat  by  diffusing  it  over  a  greater  surface.  Anal- 
yses of  seven  specimens  of  western  lignites  collected 
from  as  many  far-separated  localities,  and  under  the 
superintendence  of  Prof.  J.  S.  Newberry,  showed  an 
average  of  63  per  cent  of  carbon.  Though  these 
lignites  are  near  at  hand,  the  repairing  or  machine 
shops  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  use  Eastern 
semi-bituminous  coals,  because  of  their  greater  pro- 
duction of  heat. 

Characteristics  of  Lignite. — The  deposits  of  lig- 
nite are  not  in  regular  seams,  like  the  coal  of  the 
Carboniferous  age,  but  in  isolated  beds  of  varied 
thicknesses.  Instead  of  being  formed,  as  the  bitu- 
minous, from  steeped  or  macerated  vegetable  mat- 
ter, the  lignite  appears  to  be  composed  of  pure 
woody  fiber,  and  is  defined  as  a  "  mineral  coal  re- 


Extent  of  Lignite.  83 

taining  the  texture  of  the  wood  from  which  it  was/ 
formed."  Hence  the  theory  has  been  entertained 
that  this  woody  material,  trunks,  branches,  and  leaves 
of  trees,  was  in  various  ways  collected  in  great 
masses — some  in  heaps  of  fallen  timber  within  mo- 
rasses ;  some  carried  by  the  force  of  water  into 
ravines  and  piled  up,  or  have  been  lodged  in  the 
channels  of  rivers — and  that  in  the  course  of  geo- 
logical ages  these  deposits  were  transformed  into 
lignite. 

Extent  of  Lignite. — The  area  of  lignite  coals 
within  the  United  States,  lying  between  the  merid- 
ian line  of  97  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  estimated 
at  50,000  square  miles.  The  deposits  being  more 
or  less  isolated  from  one  another,  this  estimate  is 
designed  to  include  the  actual  workable  beds  of 
the  coal,  and  not  merely  the  territory  where  it  is 
known  to  exist,  for  the  latter  would  equal  more 
than  300,000  square  miles.  "  Scientifically  speaking, 
there  is  no  more  coal  west  of  Kansas,  thereby  mean- 
ing that  better  quality  of  fossil  fuel  found  among 
the  rocks  of  the  Carboniferous  age,  but,  practically 
and  commercially,  there  is  a  great  abundance  of 
lignite.  During  the  Cretaceous  and  early  Tertiary 
periods  an  immense  swamp  seems  to  have  existed 
all  along  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  the 
eastern  side  extending  from  New  Mexico  north- 
ward for  many  hundreds  of  miles  into  the  British 
possessions."  (Coal  Regions,  etc.,  pp.  534,  5J5-). 

Dakota  and  Montana  Lignites. — Lignite  coal  ap- 


84  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

pears  to  be  diffused  over  the  entire  region  between 
the  9/th  meridian  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  as  the 
settlers  find  it  along  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway. 
"  Seams  of  lignite  abound,  cropping  out  from  the 
hill-sides  of  Western  Dakota,  and  the  settlers  obtain 
their  supplies  for  domestic  use  at  no  greater  cost 
than  getting  it  out  from  the  faces  of  these  out- 
crops. This  coal  has  about  three  fourths  the  heat- 
producing  capacity  of  ordinary  bituminous."  In  the 
vicinity  of  Coal  Harbor,  North  Dakota,  on  the  Mis- 
souri River,  has  been  recently  discovered  a  deposit 
of  lignite  coal.  The  seam  is  unusually  thick,  being, 
it  is  said,  eighteen  feet,  while  the  indications  are 
that  the  area  thus  underlaid  is  quite  extensive. 
"  Coal  in  abundance  is  found  in  Montana  near  the 
Yellowstone,  Musselshell,  and  Missouri  Rivers,  in 
immense  beds  of  lignite  which  crop  out  along 
the  bluffs.  Veins  of  a  harder  coal,  that  can  be 
coked  has  been  found  also  in  the  Belt  Mountains." 
(Hist.  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  pp.  337-340)  A  large 
deposit  of  coal  is  also  reported  as  having  been 
found  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Benton.  This  coal 
is  stated  to  be  susceptible  of  coking. 

Wyoming  Territory. — How  often,  in  the  order  of 
Providence,  is  it  seen  that  treasures  lie  in  the  earth 
undiscovered  until  man  is  prepared  to  utilize  them  ! 
A  striking  incident,  in  illustration  of  this  principle, 
occurred  in  the  discovery  of  coal  in  this  Territory. 
The  lack  of  fuel  for  the  locomotives  was  earnestly 
urged  against  the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific 


Discovery  of  Coal.  85 

Railway,  because  of  the  extra  expense  in  operating 
it,  there  being  neither  wood  nor  coal  along  the 
route.  However,  the  road  was  nearly  finished,  and 
the  company  were  making  preparations  to  supply 
fuel,  and  a  contract  was  made  with  a  firm  in  Pitts- 
burg  to  furnish  a  certain  class  of  cars  to  trans- 
port the  coal  to  relay-stations  along  the  road. 
The  necessary  papers  were  drawn,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  the  respective  parties  were  to  meet  at 
a  certain  time  and  place  to  sign  the  contract.  The 
parties  met ;  but,  only  about  an  hour  previous  to 
the  meeting,  a  member  of  the  corporation  received 
a  telegram,  announcing  that  coal  had  been  dis- 
covered at  Cheyenne,  near  the  railroad.  The  con- 
tract was  not  signed.  In  sinking  a  well  the  work- 
men found  indications  of  coal;  the  clew  was  fol- 
lowed, which  resulted  in  finding  a  bed  of  lignite 
seven  feet  thick  and  at  seventy  feet  beneath  the  sur- 
face. Coal  was  now  sought  for  and  found  at  vari- 
ous places  along  and  near  the  road  for  500  miles 
west  of  Cheyenne  and  about  200  east;  from  these 
numerous  mines  the  railway  derives  its  fuel. 

Here  commenced  the  development  of  the  coal- 
field of  Wyoming,  which  is  estimated  by  competent 
authority  to  be  at  least  20,000  square  miles,  the 
whole  being  remarkable  for  the  thickness  of  the  beds. 
The  field  lies  within  the  southern  half  of  the  Terri- 
tory, and  occupies  portions  of  the  valleys  of  the 
North  Platte  and  Sweetwater  Rivers.  In  what  is 
known  as  Coal  Ridge  in  the  northern  portion  of  the 


86  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

field  there  are  extensive  deposits  which  are  remark- 
able for  their  depth,  three  being  reported  respect- 
ively as  forty,  sixteen,  and  twelve  feet  in  thickness. 
(See  Fig.  10,  which  illustrates  the  dip  and  the  seams 
of  this  coal-field  of  Wyoming.)  The  spaces  between 
the  seams  of  coal  are  filled  for  the  most  part  by  sand- 
stone and  beds  of  fire-clay.  "  All  of  these  beds 
(thirty-four  in  number)  are  confined  to  about  2,000 
feet  of  strata." 

According  to  the  report  of  Gov.  Warren  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  (1885),  these  coals  range  in 
heating  power  or  fixed  carbon  from  51  to  53  per  cent. 
One  belt  of  coal  extends  for  120  miles,  and  Prof. 
Aughey,  Territorial  Geologist,  is  quoted  by  the  Gov- 
ernor as  saying  that  "  along  this  belt  there  are  from 
three  to  eleven  coal-beds,  varying  in  thickness  from 
twelve  to  twenty  feet."  The  strike  of  these  beds  is 
nearly  due  north,  and  they  dip  westerly  from  20°  to  23°. 

Says  Prof.  Hay  den,  United  States  Geologist: 
"  The  coal  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  distributed 
along  their  flanks  as  several  leaves  in  the  great  book 
of  folded  strata.  Nowhere  in  the  world  is  there 
such  a  vast  development  of  the  recent  (Tertiary  or 
Cretaceous)  measures,  and  in  few  places  is  their  ex- 
istence more  necessary  to  the  advancement  and  im- 
provement of  the  region  in  which  they  occur.  They 
lie  regularly  and  in  the  main  quite  horizontally  ;  be- 
ing close  to  the  mountains,  the  beds  are  naturally 
tilted."  The  coals  of  this  section,  though  lignites, 
have  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the  bituminous, 


A    Vein  of  Asphalt. 


but  they  are  not  so  uniform  in  their  character  as  the 
latter,  and  differ 
from  one  anoth- 
er more  in  dif- 
ferent localities 
than  does  the 
bituminous. 

Idaho  Coal. 
-  In  Central 
Idaho,  about 
thirty  miles 
west  of  Salmon 
City,  a  vein  of 
asphalt  was  dis- 
covered in  1885, 
near  the  mining 
town  of  Dyna- 
mo. It  is  in  one 
of  the  foot-hills 
of  the  Salmon 
River  Mount- 
ains, and  ranges 
in  thickness 
from  one  and  a 
half  to  three 
and  a  half  feet, 
and  has  a  dip 
of  about  60°  as  it  rises  from  the  edge  of  the  creek  or 
valley  to  160  feet  in  the  hill.  The  extent  of  the  de- 
posit is  not  fully  known. 


88  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Colorado  Coal-Field. — In  this  State  coal  or  lig- 
nite has  been  found  on  both  sides  of  the  South 
Platte  River,  and  farther  south,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Golden  City,  are  several  isolated  beds  nearly  vertical 
in  their  position.  One  of  these  ranges  in  thickness 
from  ten  to  fourteen  feet  at  the  outcrop  ;  the  bed 
proved  to  be,  however,  very  irregular  in  depth,  run- 
ning down  to  even  a  few  inches,  then  expanding  to 
eight  or  ten  feet,  and  on  the  whole  averages  perhaps 
five  feet.  A  number  of  beds  have  been  opened  on 
Boulder  Creek,  twenty-two  miles  north  of  Denver ; 
among  these  is  a  bed  of  coal  nearly  nine  feet  in  thick- 
ness and  of  a  superior  quality  in  respect  to  its  heat- 
ing power,  so  that  it  can  be  used  in  welding  iron. 

In  the  west-middle  portion  of  the  State,  in  Gar- 
field  County,  is  a  remarkably  valuable  coal-field  "  ex- 
tending from  Grand  River  near  the  mouth  of  Elk 
Creek  in  a  southeastern  direction  for  thirty  miles." 
One  seam  of  this  coal  is  stated  to  be  "  thirty  feet  in 
width,  extending  above  the  water-level  in  some 
places  over  1,200  feet  to  the  crest  of  the  mountain 
above."  Within  the  space  of  about  100  feet  are 
three  other  seams  of  coal,  varying  from  five  to  eight 
feet  in  thickness.  These  seams  are  almost  vertical, 
and  therein  consists  the  peculiarity  of  their  position, 
as  they  extend  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  to  an 
indefinite  distance  below  the  water-level.  This  coal 
is  susceptible  of  being  coked,  and  thus  made  avail- 
able for  the  smelters  of  silver  and  lead  ores  found  in 
the  vicinity. 


Lignite  on  Fire.  89 

There  are  numerous  other  deposits  of  coal  found 
within  the  State,  and  no  doubt  many  more  will  yet 
be  discovered,  and  sufficient  to  supply  its  domestic 
wants.  Analysis  shows  that  the  percentage  of  fixed 
carbon,  in  two  specimens  from  representative  mines, 
ranged  from  41  to  42  per  cent.  Anthracite  is  said  to 
have  been  also  found  in  this  State.  The  coal  area  of 
the  State  has  been  estimated  from  20,000  to  50,000 
square  miles.  (Min.  Resources  U.  5.,  /.  24.) 

Utah  Territory. — Near  the  line  of  Wyoming  and 
Utah  Territories,  at  Evanston,  441  miles  west  of 
Cheyenne,  are  found  a  number  of  valuable  coal-beds. 
One  of  these  is  remarkable  for  its  thickness,  that 
being  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven  feet ;  but  only 
from  eight  or  ten  feet  of  the  coal  is  taken  out,  as 
more  convenient.  The  coal,  however,  is  not  a  fa- 
vorite with  the  locomotive-engineers,  because  of  its 
clinkering  and  of  not  burning  up  cleanly.  Numer- 
ous other  mines  are  found  in  the  hills  of  Utah, 
sufficient,  it  is  supposed,  for  domestic  use,  the  coal 
having  the  characteristics  of  the  lignite  variety. 
There  is  a  marked  peculiarity  belonging  to  some  of 
the  lignites,  that  of  taking  fire  spontaneously.  This 
trait  was  noticed  in  1804,  by  the  first  American  ex- 
plorers of  that  region — Clark  and  Lewis — on  the 
Shoshonee  (vulgarly,  Snake]  River.  Mines  are  to- 
day on  fire  from  this  cause  in  many  localities  within 
our  Territories,  as  well  as  northward  along  the 
Mackenzie  River. 

New  Mexico  Coal-Field.— In  this  Territory  are 


90  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

two  prominent  deposits  of  coal  belonging  to  the 
same  general  line  of  beds  that  we  have  noticed 
along  the  eastern  foot-hills  or  base  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  They  are  both  within  the  valley  of  the 
Pecos  River,  the  solitary  branch  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
One,  the  Corrilias,  lies  higher  up  the  valley,  and  the 
other,  White  Oaks,  farther  down,  but  both  are  in  a 
southeast  direction  from  Sante  Fe,  the  capital  of  the 
Territory.  It  is  singular  that  of  these  two  fields  the 
former  should  be  of  anthracite  and  the  latter  of  bi- 
tuminous, and  yet  so  near  each  other.  Why  this  pe- 
culiarity, is  left  for  geology  to  explain. 

Prof.  Raymond,  in  his  report,  1870,  on  the  "  Min- 
eral Resources  of  the  United  States,"  speaking  of  this 
anthracite,  says :  "  As  far  as  its  application  for  all 
practical  purposes  is  concerned,  it  is  fully  equal  [?]  to 
Pennsylvania  anthracite,  and  is  really  the  best  fuel 
ever  discovered,  so  far,  in  the  West."  Prof.  J.  S. 
Newberry  characterizes  this  as  lignite  anthracite,  and, 
by  analysis  under  his  direction,  it  is  found  to  con- 
tain 74  per  cent  of  carbon  ;  Pennsylvania  anthracite 
has  95  per  cent.  The  bituminous  seams  are  seven- 
teen in  number,  ranging  in  thickness  from  one  to  six 
feet.  Southwest  of  these  mines  at  Los  Bronces,  in 
Northern  Sonora,  Mexico,  are  mines  of  lignite  an- 
thracite, which,  according  to  the  same  analysis,  con- 
tains 84  per  cent.  (Coal  Regions,  etc.,  p.  557.) 

Arizona  Coal-Field.  —  This  field  extends  north 
and  south  in  detached  portions  from  near  the  Gila 
River,  on  the  south  and  on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the 


Arizona  Coal-Field.  91 

Apache  and  Mongollon  Mountains,  up  into  Southern 
Utah,  meanwhile  sending  a  branch  east  into  North- 
western New  Mexico.  These  beds  are  also  on  the 
head  and  middle  streams  of  the  Little  Colorado 
River,  as  well  as  on  some  of  the  tributaries  of  the 
Gila.  The  lignite  coals  are  not  so  uniform  and  con- 
tinuous in  their  seams  as  those  of  the  bituminous  of 
the  Carboniferous  age  ;  hence  we  find  the  deposits  of 
the  former  more  detached  from  one  another.  There 
appear  to  be  several  deposits  of  coal  in  Arizona. 
In  the  south,  the  one  in  the  valley  of  the  Gila,  on 
Deer  Creek,  one  of  its  tributaries,  the  coal  is  of  ex- 
cellent quality  and  will  coke.  The  seams  are  from 
three  to  eight  feet  in  thickness,  and  the  deposit  is 
about  four  miles  long  by  two  wide.  North  of  this  is 
another  and  still  more  extensive  deposit  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Fort  Defiance ;  here  the  seam  is  nine  feet 
thick  :  this  bed  also  extends  northeast  and  east  into 
Northwest  New  Mexico.  Then  comes  another  field 
in  a  northwest  direction  from  the  latter,  but  which 
extends  north  into  Utah  ;  here  the  seam  or  bed  is 
twenty-three  feet  thick. 

The  coal  of  Arizona  has  been  described  by  Mr. 
C.  P.  Stanton,  "  a  competent  geologist,"  as  possess- 
ing "  all  the  qualities  of  bituminous  coal  and  to  rank 
next  to  anthracite  for  domestic  purposes,"  saying : 
"  I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  pre-eminently 
useful  for  generating  steam  and  for  smelting  ores. 
.  .  .  This  description  will  apply  to  all  the  coal  in  the 
great  Arizona  coal-basin."  (Hamilton  s  Arizona,  p.  24.3.) 


IX. 

PACIFIC   COAL-FIELDS. 

California  Coal-Fields. — The  coal  on  the  Pacific 
slope  partakes  of  the  same  general  character  of 
the  lignites  on  the  east  side  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains. Twenty-eight  miles  nearly  east  of  San  Fran- 
cisco are,  as  far  as  known,  the  most  important  coal 
deposits  in  the  State  of  California.  These  consist 
of  coal-seams  in  a  ridge  of  hills  on  the  north  and 
northeast  sides  of  Mount  Diablo,  a  coal  district 
that  belongs  to  the  Coast  Range.  The  outcrop 
extends  for  ten  or  twelve  miles  in  an  east  and  west 
direction,  and  in  these  seams  the  coal  is  found — 
the  lower  one  being  four  feet  in  thickness,  the 
middle  two  and  a  half,  and  the  upper  three  feet 
eight  inches. 

There  are  some  half-dozen  mines  in  operation 
in  taking  coal  from  these  seams ;  the  lower  one  is 
worked  by  a  shaft  700  feet  deep.  San  Francisco 
for  the  most  part  derives  her  coal-fuel  from  these 
mines,  for  domestic  use  as  well  as  for  manufactur- 
ing and  the  driving  of  steamers  and  locomotives; 
they  also  supply  the  cities  around  the  bay  and  up 


Mount  Diablo  Coal.  93 

the  valleys  of  the  rivers.  The  coals  of  the  Pacific 
slope,  being-  of  the  later  geological  formation,  are 
soft  and  friable,  and  deficient  in  heat-producing 
qualities,  when  compared  with  the  bituminous  coal 
of  the  Alleghany  field.  The  average  amount  of 
fixed  carbon  in  the  coal  taken  from  five  different 
mines  at  Mount  Diablo,  by  analysis,  is  43  per  cent, 
while  that  of  the  Pittsburg  seam  is  nearly  55. 

Coal  is  also  found  within  the  State  in  many 
other  places,  in  the  Coast  Range  as  well  as  amid 
the  western  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada ;  but  the 
quality  is  not  generally  of  the  best,  while  the  quan- 
tity is  quite  limited.  In  a  southeast  direction  from 
the  Diablo  coal-field,  coal  occurs  in  the  valley  of 
the  San  Joaquin,  and  also  in  the  southern  exten- 
sion of  the  Coast  Range.  The  coal  found  in  the 
latter  is  not  as  valuable  as  that  obtained  from  the 
mines  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Diablo;  that  in 
lone  Valley,  Amador  County,  has  some  marked 
peculiarities.  The  deposit  is  for  the  most  part  in 
a  narrow  trough  of  varying  width  and  stretching 
for  more  than  twenty  miles,  and  at  the  general 
depth  of  sixty  feet  below  the  surface.  The  seam 
varies  in  thickness  from  four  feet  to  twenty.  Still 
farther  southeast  coal  is  found  in  Los  Angeles  and 
Mono  Counties,  and  also  in  that  of  San  Diego.  The 
latter  appears  to  be  the  most  valuable,  as  the  seam 
is  solid  and  ranges  from  four  to  seven  feet  in  thick- 
ness. The  coal  is  mixed  a  little  with  slate,  but  in 
the  main  differs  scarcely  in  its  characteristics  from 


94  N-atural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

that  of  Mount  Diablo.  This  portion  of  the  State 
is  almost  destitute  of  timber,  causing  the  coal  to 
be  of  unusual  value  to  the  people. 

The  Coos  Bay  Coal-Field. — This  bay  penetrates 
Southern  Oregon  for  fourteen  miles,  and  in  the  upper 
portion  curves  sharply  toward  the  north ;  it  varies 
in  width  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half 
miles.  Coos  River  enters  it  at  the  northern  end  ; 
and  on  that  river,  four  miles  from  its  mouth,  is  the 
coal-mining  district,  in  the  midst  of  a  hilly  and 
densely  wooded  country.  The  coal  lies  in  three 
seams  near  one  another.  The  two  lower  are  pecul- 
iar in  their  position,  as  between  them  is  a  vein  of 
sandstone  four  inches  thick,  while  the  seams  of  coal 
are  each  two  feet  three  inches,  but  the  whole  is 
mined  and  the  sandstone  is  picked  out.  The  upper 
seam  is  of  inferior  quality,  and,  being  only  one  foot 
thick,  is  left  to  serve  as  the  roof  of  the  mine.  This 
coal  is  free  from  sulphur,  and  is  not  liable  to  take 
fire  spontaneously. 

Upon  the  whole,  this  coal-field  appears  to  be 
unusually  large  for  that  region  and  regular  in  its 
conformation,  as  it  is  known  to  extend  for  eighteen 
or  twenty  miles  south  of  the  bay,  and  besides  for 
many  miles  inland.  The  main  seam  varies  in  thick- 
ness ;  in  some  localities  it  reaches  even  nine  feet. 
When  freshly  mined  the  coal  in  appearance  re- 
sembles that  of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  though  it  differs 
in  being  lignite,  as  in  it  can  be  plainly  seen  the 
structure  of  the  wood  from  which  it  is  formed. 


Seattle  Coal-Field.  95 

"  Masses  of  several  hundred  pounds'  weight  are 
seen,  which  were  evidently  portions  of  the  carbon- 
ized trunks  of  trees  of  large  size,  in  which  the  rings 
of  annual  growth,  knots  and  branches,  were  almost 
as  plainly  perceptible  as  in  recent  wood."  Not- 
withstanding this  apparent  solidity,  when  exposed 
for  a  time  to  the  air,  it  cracks  and  breaks  into 
numberless  cubical  fragments.  It  burns  freely,  with 
a  bright,  cheerful  blaze,  and  gives  out  a  fair  pro- 
portion of  heat ;  it  produces  gas  largely,  but  of  an 
inferior  illuminating  power.  It  contains  nearly  47 
per  cent  of  carbon  and  about  50  of  volatile  matter. 

Seattle  Coal-Field. — In  Washington  Territory  we 
find  coal-mines  near  Seattle.  This  town  is  on  the 
east  side  of  Puget  Sound,  and  has  the  finest  harbor 
belonging  to  that  magnificent  inland  sea.  The  coal- 
field is  nine  miles  distant.  In  this  field  are  five 
seams  of  coal,  ranging  in  thickness  from  four  to 
twelve  feet,  and  covering  a  large  district  of  many 
square  miles.  The  coal  contains  46  per  cent  of 
carbon  and  35  of  volatile  matter,  12  of  water,  6  of 
ashes,  and  5  per  cent  of  sulphur. 

Bellingham  Bay. — Directly  north  of  Seattle,  on 
Bellingham  Bay — which  is  fourteen  miles  long  and 
three  miles  wide — is  deemed  the  largest  and  finest 
coal  deposit  in  the  Territory.  The  main  seam  is 
nine  feet  thick,  all  of  which  is  available  for  mining ; 
the  coal  being  of  the  same  general  quality  of  the 
others  on  the  coast,  having  of  fixed  carbon  48  per 
cent  and  of  bitumen  50.  The  mouth  of  this 


96  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

mine  is  near  the  water  of  the  sound,  where  the 
largest  vessels  can  easily  come  up  to  the  wharf. 
There  are  several  seams;  the  coal  when  burning 
often  leaves  an  unusual  amount  of  slag  and  cinders. 
"  The  flora  of  Bellingham  Bay  is  remarkably  like 
that  of  the  lignite-beds  of  the  upper  Missouri,  the 
genera  being  all  represented  and  some  of  the  spe- 
cies identical "  (Prof.  Newberry).  Similar  speci- 
mens of  flora  are  found  in  the  coal-mines  on  Van- 
couver's Island. 

The  Coast  Outcrop.— South  of  Cape  Flattery 
twenty-five  miles  is  an  extensive  deposit  of  coal 
very  similar  to  that  of  Coos  Bay.  In  addition 
there  is  almost  a  continuous  outcrop  of  coal  along 
the  coast-hills  toward  the  south  as  far  as  Santa 
Clara  southeast  of  San  Francisco,  where  is  found  a 
deposit  of  lignite  having  the  characteristics  of  that 
of  Coos  Bay,  but  said  to  be  somewhat  inferior  in 
its  properties.  "  Farther  inland  there  is  probably 
an  extensive  region  underlaid  with  coal  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Cascade  Range,  between  Willa- 
mette Valley  and  Bellingham  Bay — the  lowest  seam 
being  reported  to  be  sixteen  feet  in  thickness." 

Alaska  Coal-Field. — Coal  is  found  in  numerous 
places  in  this  Territory,  though  the  seams  appear 
to  be  rather  small.  It  has  been  used  in  some  in- 
stances with  success  by  the  United  States  steamers 
when  cruising  in  the  adjacent  waters.  It  is  found 
not  only  along  the  south  coast,  but  in  the  interior; 
but  at  "  Cape  Beaufort,  on  the  Arctic  coast,  is  a 


Alaska  Coal-Field.  97 

small  seam  of  true  Carboniferous  coal."  Can  the 
latter  have  any  connection  with  the  coal  of  the  same 
geological  age  on  Melville  Island  ?  (p.  17).  The  coal 
from  the  deposit  on  Cook's  Inlet  has  of  fixed  carbon 
50  per  cent  and  of  volatile  matter  40.  Anthracite  is 
also  said  to  be  found  in  Alaska  in  various  places,  but 
in  limited  quantities.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  coal 
of  the  Cretaceous  or  Tertiary  period — the  lignite — is 
found  along  the  east  coast  of  the  Pacific,  the  seams 
at  intervals  cropping  out  of  almost  every  bluff  from 
Sitka,  Alaska,  as  far  as  Chili — where  lignite  is  found 
—if  not  farther,  in  South  America.  From  this  we 
infer  that,  in  that  period,  similar  geological  influ- 
ences were  exerted  all  along  the  extreme  west  por- 
tions of  both  North  and  South  America. 


X. 

COAL-FIELDS  OF  THE  DOMINION. 

IT  may  not  be  out  of  place  in  this  connection  to 
notice  briefly  the  coal  deposits  in  the  adjoining 
British  possessions.  On  the  Pacific  coast  are  valu- 
able mines  of  lignite  on  Vancouver's  Island,  which 
are  extensive  and  worked.  The  coals  mined  at  Na- 
nimo  on  this  island  contain  on  an  average  46  per 
cent  of  carbon,  32  of  volatile  matter,  and  18  of  ash. 
On  Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  100  miles  farther  up 
the  coast,  lignite  anthracite  is  found. 

Coal  of  the  Northwest. — Within  that  immense 
territory  stretching  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  from  its 
southern  base,  that  portion  of  the  northern  bound- 
ary of  the  United  States  that  extends  from  Lake 
Superior  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  are  very  exten- 
sive fields  of  lignite.  These  are  all  located  north- 
ward along  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Rockies,  and 
on  the  numerous  head-streams  of  the  Saskatchewan, 
on  the  sources  of  Lake  Athabasca  and  those  of  the 
Mackenzie,  and  down  the  banks  of  the  latter  toward 
its  mouth,  and  perhaps  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  itself,  as 
is  the  case  north  of  Alaska.  The  beds  of  this  lignite, 


Albertite.  99 

as  far  as  known,  range  from  two  to  eight  feet  in  thick- 
ness. Numbers  of  these  have  been  on  fire  we  know 
not  how  long,  since  it  originated  in  spontaneous 
combustion.  One  was  on  fire  in  1789,  when  Macken- 
zie explored  the  river,  and  was  still  burning  nearly 
forty  years  afterward,  as  verified  by  Dr.  Richardson, 
who  visited  the  region.  Large  tracts  of  land  are 
found  where  the  coal  has  been  burned  out  and  left 
the  clay  soil  of  a  red-brick  color,  and  even  melted 
the  sandstone  rocks. 

Nova  Scotia  Coal-Field. — The  coal  of  this  region 
is  bituminous,  and  is  the  product  of  the  Carbonifer- 
ous age ;  for  this  reason  it  is  thought  to  be  probably 
an  extension  of  that  of  Pennsylvania,  which  lies  in 
the  same  northeast-southwest  direction,  and  the  coal 
found  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  may  be 
the  only  links  remaining  of  a  lost  chain.  There  are 
in  this  portion  of  the  Dominion  a  number  of  locali- 
ties, where  coal  is  found,  but  not  in  available  quanti- 
ties, because  of  the  thinness  of  the  seams.  The  en- 
tire coal  area — that  is,  where  coal  is  found — is  esti- 
mated at  several  thousand  square  miles,  of  which 
perhaps  one  thousand  are  available. 

Albertite. — In  New  Brunswick,  near  the  head  of 
the  Bay  of  Fundy,  is  a  mine  unique  in  its  character, 
as  from  it  is  obtained  a  substance  named  (we  pre- 
sume from  Prince  Albert)  Albertite.  This  material  is 
found  in  a  vein  which  fills  a  crevice  between  rocks  ; 
it  appears  to  have  been  originally  fluid,  like  petrole- 
um, and  under  certain  conditions  was  hardened,  and 


ioo  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the  decomposition 
of  vegetable  or  animal  matter,  or  perhaps  from  a 
combination  of  both.  The  gas  obtained  from  this 
substance  has  a  superior  illuminating  power.  Al- 
bertite  is  defined  as  "a  material  intermediate  be- 
tween the  most  bituminous  coals  and  the  asphalts," 
though  it  is  free  from  mineral  charcoal  or  earthy 
matter.  There  is  a  similar  deposit  in  West  Vir- 
ginia (p.  60). 

Pictou  Mines. — On  the  north  shore  of  Nova 
Scotia  is  the  Pictou  coal-region,  within  what  is 
known  as  the  curve  of  the  coast.  In  this  location 
are  a  number  of  seams  or  rather  masses  of  coal, 
ranging  in  thickness  from  twelve  to  forty  feet ;  and 
still  another  bed,  157  feet  lower  than  the  first,  is 
about  twenty-five  feet  in  thickness ;  and  a  third  seam, 
280  feet  below  the  second,  has  a  depth  of  eleven  feet. 
These  facts  have  been  ascertained  by  means  of  bor- 
ings instituted  for  the  purpose ;  but  some  authorities 
have  doubted  their  perfect  accuracy,  as  the  beds 
have  an  inclination  of  20°,  while  the  measurements 
were  in  a  line  perpendicular  from  the  surface. 
This  coal  is  remarkable  for  the  amount  of  ashes  it 
contains,  that  being  from  13  to  14  per  cent,  as  well  as 
sulphur  to  a  small  extent.  Says  Dr.  Dawson :  "  The 
worst  defect  of  Pictou  coal  is,  that  it  contains  a 
considerable  quantity  of  light,  bulky  ashes,  and  this 
causes  it  to  be  much  less  esteemed  for  domestic  use 
than  on  other  grounds  it  deserves."  The  lower 
seams  of  this  field  extend  apparently  under  the  At- 


Sydney  Mines.  101 


lantic  Ocean  and  Cumberland  Strait.  The'o 
of  Pictou  is  said  to  be  about  twenty-eight  -square, 
miles,  but  it  would  seem  that  the  atyavla^fc,  space-,  fqr, 
mining  is  less  than  the  estimate. 

Sydney  Mines.  —  The  most  important  mining  dis- 
trict in  the  Dominion,  in  respect  to  its  output,  has  its 
center  at  Sydney,  on  the  east  shore  of  Cape  Breton 
Island.  The  beds  lie  in  basins  along  the  coast  for 
thirty-five  miles,  and  from  four  to  five  feet  in  width. 
One  seam  or  bed  of  coal  is  ten  or  eleven  feet  thick, 
and  spreads  back  from  the  shore  in  a  semicircular 
form  ;  then  comes  a  seam  farther  back,  which  is  six 
feet  in  thickness  ;  and  still  another,  farther  inland, 
eight  feet  in  depth.  These  beds  furnish  a  coal  that 
is  claimed  to  equal  the  famed  Westmoreland,  near 
Pittsburg  (p.  53),  in  the  production  of  gas.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  120  square  miles  would  be  the  extent  of 
the  workable  seams  in  this  coal  area. 


XL 


THE  COAL  OF  EUROPE  COMPARED  WITH  THAT  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 

IN  two  respects  the  coal-fields  of  the  United 
States  are  strikingly  in  contrast  with  those  of  Eu- 
rope :  the  one,  in  their  greater  surface  extent,  and 
the  thickness  of  the  seams ;  the  other,  in  the  mining 
of  the  coal  with  greater  ease  and  at  less  expense.  In 
Europe  the  seams  of  coal  are  more  numerous,  and  as 
a  general  rule  comparatively  thin,  and  for  that  reason 
unworkable,  and  those  thus  available  are  the  excep- 
tion ;  while  in  the  United  States  the  seams  are  not  so 
numerous,  but  the  thin  ones  are  the  exception,  and 
therefore  a  much  greater  proportion  of  the  coal  is 
workable.  In  Europe  the  coal-fields  are  compara- 
tively small  and  scattered  widely ;  in  the  United 
States,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  separate  coal- 
fields are  immensely  large,  numbering  many  thou- 
sands of  square  miles. 

Coal  Areas. — The  surface  of  Europe  is  estimated 
by  geographers  to  be  3,750,000  square  miles ;  that  of 
the  United  States,  by  the  same  authority,  at  3,000,000, 
excluding  Alaska.  The  workable  coal  area  of  all  of 


A  Special  Comparison.  103 

Europe  has  been  estimated  to  range  from  15,000  to 
20,000  square  miles — we  will  take  the  latter  number 
— and  with  an  average  depth  of  ten  feet  of  available 
coal,  not  taking  in  the  seams  of  different  sizes  that 
are  too  thin  to  be  workable.  From  this  we  find  that 
Europe,  for  one  square  mile  of  available  coal,  has  188 
square  miles  of  surface.  The  United  States  has,  of 
the  Carboniferous  age  alone,  205,000  square  miles  of 
coal  area,  estimated  to  be  on  an  average  twenty  feet 
thick.  (Coal,  Iron,  etc.,  p. 320.)  In  addition,  the  lignite 
variety,  located  west  of  the  ninety -ninth  meridian  to 
the  Pacific,  is  estimated  at  more  than  150,000  square 
miles,  but  we  will  call  it  100,000;  that  gives  of  the 
two  classes  of  coal  300,000  square  miles,  which  is  at 
the  rate  of  one  square  mile  of  coal  to  ten  square  miles 
of  surface.  The  thickness  of  the  beds  of  lignite  is 
not  so  uniform  as  that  of  the  coal  of  the  Carbonifer- 
ous age. 

A  Special  Comparison. — As  we  are  more  inti- 
mately connected  by  means  of  commerce,  and  in 
having  similar  mechanical  industries,  with  Belgium, 
France,  and  England,  than  with  the  other  countries 
of  Europe,  we  will  briefly  notice  the  coal  found  in 
the  above-named  countries.  In  Europe,  seams  of 
coal  are  worked  that  Americans  at  this  day  would 
deem  unavailable,  because  of  their  thinness  and  the 
expense  of  removing  the  surroundings  of  the  coal  it- 
self ;  but,  labor  being  so  cheap  and  coal  so  dear, 
in  Europe  mining  under  even  such  difficulties  is 
made  to  pay. 


IO4  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Belgium  is  reported  to  have,  in  all,  a  workable 
coal  area  of  510  square  miles.  In  its  two  most  im- 
portant coal-fields,  the  one  in  the  vicinity  of  Liege 
has  seams  varying  from  six  inches  to  five  feet  and  a 
half — "  the  average  being  barely  three  feet "  ;  the 
other,  near  Mons,  has  seams  "  from  ten  to  twenty- 
eight  inches — very  few  three  feet  in  thickness." 
France  has  a  coal  area  of  4,000  square  miles — that  is, 
where  coal  is  found — but  has  only  1,000  square  miles 
of  workable  coal.  The  country  of  Europe  best  sup- 
plied with  coal  is  Great  Britain,  she  having  an  area 
of  about  12,000  square  miles  where  coal  is  found  :  the 
portion  of  this  area  that  is  workable  is  estimated  by 
one  authority  at  6,195,  and  by  another  at  5,000 
square  miles ;  the  first  estimate  gives  one  square 
mile  of  coal  to  nineteen  and  a  half  square  miles  of 
surface,  and  the  second  twenty-four;  Belgium  has 
one  in  twenty-two  and  a  half,  and  France  one  in  200. 
In  England  the  thinness  of  the  seams  is  so  great  that 
the  miner  has  nearly  always  to  lie  on  his  side  when 
working.  As  an  instance  of  the  labor  in  obtaining 
coal  in  some  places,  it  is  cited  that  "  one  seam  of 
fourteen  and  another  of  sixteen  and  a  half  inches 
were  worked  to  a  depth  of  about  1,260  feet,  but  the 
circumstances  were  peculiarly  favorable,  ...  as  un- 
der the  coal  was  a  soft  clay  that  was  easily  removed." 
(Coal,  its  History  and  Uses,  p.  306.)  At  Newcastle,  in 
the  richest  coal-field  of  England,  "  the  current  thick- 
ness of  the  seams  is  from  three  to  six  feet  " — 
though  it  is  thought  that  "  of  British  coal-measures, 


Horizontal  Seams — The  Dip.  105 

rather  more  than  three  fourths  may  become  available 
for  consumption."  In  Wales  the  seams  do  not  ex- 
ceed three  feet  in  thickness  ;  and  in  one  instance  the 
coal  has  been  mined  a  mile  and  a  half  under  the  sea. 

In  the  anthracite  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  the 
main  seam — "  the  Mammoth  "—ranges  from  thirty 
to  sixty  feet,  for  the  most  part  forty  feet,  without  a 
break  ;  and  the  famous  Pittsburg  seam  varies  from 
eight  feet  to  sixteen  in  thickness,  with  workable 
seams  in  many  instances  above  and  below  it.  A 
representative  of  this  seam  is  found  throughout  the 
205,000  square  miles  of  the  coal  of  the  Carbonifer- 
ous age.  Seams  of  workable  thickness  predominate 
also  in  the  lignite  coal-fields  of  the  Union.  Another 
contrast  is  in  our  immense  field  of  anthracite,  of 
which  none  in  comparison  is  found  in  Europe  worth 
naming  ;  in  addition  we  have  large  fields  of  semi- 
anthracite,  which  contains  so  much  more  fixed  car- 
bon than  bituminous  coals.  We  have  five  varieties 
— the  anthracite,  semi-anthracite,  bituminous,  lignite, 
and  cannel. 

Horizontal  Seams,  and  the  Dip. — With  the  excep- 
tion found  in  the  anthracite  region,  the  coal-seams  of 
the  United  States  are  uniformly  horizontal  or  nearly 
so,  and  usually  above  the  water-level,  and  in  conse- 
quence they  are  easily  drained,  and  the  coal  taken  to 
the  mouth  of  the  mines  in  the  side-hills  on  a  level, 
and  at  comparatively  small  expense.  When  the  coal, 
as  in  the  central  field,  is  under  the  prairie,  it  is 
reached  by  shafts  which  vary  in  depth  from  about 


io6  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

40  to  700  feet.  The  coal  here  lies  also  almost  hori- 
zontally, and  is  easily  mined,  the  galleries  running  in 
every  direction  from  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  to 
which  point  the  coal  is  brought  and  hoisted  to  the 
surface.  The  lignites  in  the  foot-hills  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  have  more  dip,  but  not  sufficient  to  im- 
pede the  mining  by  shafts  to  much  extent. 

In  England,  for  instance,  the  dip  or  inclination  of 
the  coal-seams  is  so  great,  together  with  their  usual 
thinness,  that  to  work  them  is  comparatively  very 
difficult  as  well  as  expensive,  especially  in  hoisting 
the  coal  to  the  surface  and  in  freeing  the  mines  from 
water,  to  do  which  requires  the  continuous  action  of 
the  pumps.  The  coal  lies  very  low  and  never  hori- 
zontal ;  to  reach  it,  shafts  are  sunk,  and  from  these 
the  miners  follow  the  seams.  Coal  being  originally 
formed  on  a  level,  the  internal  convulsion  that  tilted 
up  the  strata  of  the  British  Isles,  and  buried  the 
coal  so  deep,  must  have  been  exceedingly  violent — 
much  more  than  in  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  evidently  was  the  greatest  convulsion 
within  the  coal-fields  of  the  United  States.  This 
may  account  for  the  reason  that  the  coal  runs  so 
deep  in  England,  where  the  depth  ranges  from  a  few 
hundred  feet  to  the  greatest  that  has  been  recently 
reached,  that  of  2,688  feet,  more  than  half  a  mile. 

How  long  will  the  Coal  last  ? — There  is  much 
speculation  in  England  in  regard  to  the  time  when 
her  coal  will  be  exhausted.  Sir  William  Armstrong 
is  quoted  as  saying,  in  the  year  1860:  "  Our  [the  Eng- 


How  long  will  the  Coal  last?          107 

lish]  total  stores  of  coal,  to  the  depth  of  4,000  feet, 
will  be  exhausted  in  212  years,"  at  the  present  rate 
of  mining.  Two  contingencies  appear  to  conflict 
with  this  theory  ;  one  of  which  is,  will  the  coal  run 
to  that  great  depth  ?  and  the  other,  will  the  same 
thickness  of  the  seams  continue?  To  reach  that 
depth  the  shafts  would  have  to  be  sunk  1,312  feet 
beyond  the  deepest  mine  yet  worked.  In  view  of 
these  considerations,  it  is  "  pointed  out  that  actual 
exhaustion  must  take  place  at  a  much  earlier  pe- 
riod." Prof.  Jevons  says  that  "  the  coal  of  England, 
at  the  rate  at  which  it  is  now  [1863]  mined,  would 
be  exhausted  in  less  than  no  years." 

In  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania  there 
are  472  square  miles  of  coal  area  by  actual  survey. 
The  amount  of  coal  mined  to  the  acre  may  be  stated 
at  60,000  tons ;  but  there  is  an  immense  deal  of  wast- 
age, so  much  so,  that  well-informed  proprietors  and 
scientific  miners  assert  that  careful  and  saving  meth- 
ods of  mining  could  increase  the  product  from  the 
acre  one-half — that  is,  90,000  tons.  The  time  may 
come  when  it  will  pay  to  be  thus  economical,  and 
even  to  work  over  much  of  the  territory.  If,  instead, 
we  reckon  the  available  product  at  75,000  tons  to 
the  acre,  an  easy  calculation  will  show  that,  on  an 
annual  average  of  34,000,000  tons — about  the  amount 
mined  in  1885 — and  making  an  allowance  of  fifty 
years  for  what  has  been  already  taken  out,  the  coal 
of  this  anthracite  region  alone  will  last  616  years. 
(Mineral  Resources  of  U.  S.  for  1885,  p.  /.) 


XII. 


PETROLEUM. 

PETROLEUM,  or  rock-oil — a  name  derived  from 
the  Greek  word  petra,  rock,  and  the  Latin  oleum,  oil 
—is  an  inflammable  oily  liquid,  that  has  been  known 
to  man  from  remote  ages ;  in  ancient  history  it  was 
described  as  issuing  from  between  the  rocks.  It 
evidently  occurs  in  small  caverns  or  reservoirs 
amid  strata  of  rocks  that  lie  in  a  horizontal  posi- 
tion or  nearly  so, 

c    ^\  — £^ *L       and    apparently 

in  long  and  ir- 
regular ere  vices. 
It  is  often  found 
in  connection 
with  both  gas 
and  water — the 
latter  being  on 
the  lowest  level, 

and  the  gas  on  the  highest.  If  the  auger  in  bor- 
ing strikes  the  gas  first,  it  rushes  to  the  surface 
with  terrific  force.  Sometimes  the  gas  may  be  in 
a  different  crevice,  but  have  communication  through 


FIG.  ii. 


Origin  of  Petroleum.  109 

a  passage  between  the  strata  with  an  oil-reservoir; 
if  the  latter  is  pierced,  a  flowing  well  is  the  result, 
as  the  oil  is  forced  to  the  surface  by  the  pressure. 
When  that  ceases,  recourse  is  had  to  the  pump. 
Petroleum  has  evidently  an  intimate  connection 
with  bitumen  and  bituminous  coal,  of  whose  veg- 
etable origin  there  is  no  doubt,  and  yet  there  are 
elements  in  petroleum  that  indicate  additional  in- 
gredients to  those  belonging  to  bituminous  coal. 

Origin  of  Petroleum. — To  account  for  this  feat- 
ure, the  theory  has  been  adduced  that  the  elements 
composing  petroleum  have  been  derived  from  ani- 
mal as  well  as  from  vegetable  matter,  and  "  that  bi- 
tumen and  petroleum  are  formed  from  the  more 
perishable  cellular  plants  and  animals  in  the  pres- 
ence of  salt-water."  But  there  are  objections  to 
this  theory.  Says  Prof.  Dana,  of  Yale  :  "  The  absence 
of  distinct  fossil  animal  and  vegetable  remains  points 
to  an  abundance  of  delicate  water-plants,  or  infuso- 
rial or  microscopic  vegetable  life,  as  the  source  of 
this  organic  material."  But  oil,  that  in  every  re- 
spect is  similar  to  petroleum,  has  been  distilled 
from  both  bituminous  and  cannel  coals,  and  this 
certainly  is  a  proof  of  the  connection.  There  were 
in  1859  nearly  sixty  factories  in  the  United  States 
engaged  in  distilling  coal-oil,  when  in  August  of 
that  year  an  artesian  well,  to  test  the  matter,  was 
sunk  in  the  vicinity  of  an  oil-spring  near  Titusville, 
Pennsylvania.  At  the  depth  of  about  seventy  feet, 
oil  was  "  struck,"  and  soon  it  was  pumped  out  at 


1 10  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

the  rate  of  twenty -five  barrels  a  day ;  a  year  and  a 
half  later  a  flowing  well  in  the  neighborhood  sent 
out  three  hundred  barrels  every  twenty-four  hours. 
Here  commenced  the  tremendous  revolution  in  the 
production  of  petroleum.  The  artificial  product 
ceased,  and,  instead,  incorporated  companies  and 
private  parties  sought  the  oil,  which  had  been  dis- 
tilled, long  centuries  before,  in  Nature's  laboratory, 
and  stored  in  vast  reservoirs  deep  within  the  earth. 
Then  began  the  usual  excitement  and  speculation, 
and  continuous  over-production,  accompanied  by  a 
wastage  that  was  sufficient  to  supply  the  wants  of 
the  people  for  years  and  years. 

Petroleum  ;  where  found.  —  In  Northwestern 
Pennsylvania  and  in  Southwestern  New  York  is  an 
oil  territory  extending  into  both  States,  the  much 
greater  portion  being  in  the  former.  This  peculiar 
oil  exudes  from  the  earth  here  and  there  in  that 
section,  though  usually  in  what  are  termed  oil- 
springs — the  oil  floating  out  on  the  water.  Some- 
times, instead  of  oil,  gas  would  reach  the  surface 
through  springs,  having  been  forced  by  the  inter- 
nal pressure  along  the  route  of  the  water.  This 
gas  when  lighted  would  burn,  and  these  were  called 
burning-springs.  In  time  it  became  known  that  this 
gas  was  in  some  mysterious  way  allied  with  the  oil. 
In  that  section  of  country  known  as  the  oil-region, 
oil  is  found ;  but  there  is  no  specific  rule  by  which 
to  determine  where  it  can  be  reached  by  boring, 
and  wells  are  sunk  on  presumptions,  rather  than 


Oil  in  Various  Districts.  1 1  r 

on  scientific  data:  hence  so  many  are  failures,  and, 
when  "  oil  is  struck,"  the  reservoir  is  very  uncer- 
tain as  to  the  amount  it  may  contain.  These  nu- 
merous districts  where  oil  is  found  lie  in  a  south- 
west-northeast direction  for  more  than  one  hundred 
miles,  but  of  uncertain  breadth,  and  apparently  lying 
in  no  regular  order.  Whole  districts  have  some- 
times become  exhausted,  while  others  are  sought  to 
take  their  places. 

In  the  State  of  Ohio  are  several  localities  where 
petroleum  is  found,  a  prominent  district  being 
about  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Zanesville.  Also 
another  location,  in  Hancock  County,  has  numerous 
prosperous  wells.  Kentucky  possesses  oil  territory 
to  some  extent,  in  which  wells  have  been  sunk  and 
petroleum  obtained.  At  present  the  most  impor- 
tant district  is  on  the  border  of  the  Tennessee  line, 
known  as  the  "  Marshall  tract,"  containing  about 
thirty  square  miles  of  area.  The  amount  of  oil 
obtained  here  is  comparatively  small,  and  it  re- 
mains to  be  ascertained  if  deeper  borings  will  not 
produce  more,  as  is  often  the  case.  Along  the  Big 
Sandy  River  are  a  number  of  oil-springs ;  the  latter 
may  lead  to  the  discovery  of  a  productive  oil  terri- 
tory, while  in  the  same  State  there  are  indications 
of  a  large  district  in  Montgomery  County.  The 
southern  end  of  the  oil-belt  extends  southwesterly 
into  Tennessee  and  across  into  Alabama,  but  has 
been  as  yet  only  partially  developed. 

West  Virginia  has  an  extensive  oil  territory,  but 


H2  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

the  production  thus  far  is  not  very  large,  though 
the  wells  are  deep.  The  production  of  oil  has  been 
pushed  to  such  extremes  that  the  glutted  market 
will  perhaps  induce  more  discretion  hereafter,  and 
thus  leave  some  for  the  use  of  succeeding  genera- 
tions ;  in  this  case  excessive  greed  has  wrought  an 
injury  that  must  be  felt  in  the  future. 

Rocky  Mountain  Oil. — In  this  region  petroleum 
is  found  in  a  number  of  localities.  Colorado  has 
extensive  deposits  in  Fremont  County ;  they  are  on 
Oil  Creek,  a  few  miles  from  Canyon  City.  Several 
small  wells  were  sunk,  and  the  oil  produced  found 
a  market  for  its  consumption  in  Denver.  The  pro- 
duction is  still  quite  limited,  but  the  field  is  by  no 
means  exhausted ;  some  of  the  wells  have  been  sunk 
from  1,700  to  i, 800  feet  deep.  South  of  this  de- 
posit, some  dozen  miles,  is  another  oil  territory 
within  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  River.  The  wells 
there  have  daily  produced  oil  to  a  moderate  amount. 
New  Mexico  has  also  indications  of  petroleum,  but 
as  yet  it  has  not  been  developed. 

Wyoming  Oil. — This  Territory  has  very  valuable 
deposits  of  petroleum  scattered  through  her  wide 
domain.  It  is  remarkable  that  here  are  required 
no  deep  borings,  and  yet  the  wells  are  very  pro- 
ductive, while  numerous  "oil-springs"  pour  it  out. 
The  oil,  exuding  from  the  earth  during  the  course 
of  ages,  has  hardened  into  a  crust  partaking  of  the 
nature  of  bitumen,  and  has  extended  over  much  of 
this  oil  territory ;  but  when  the  crust  is  probed, 


Wyoming  Oil.  113 

the  petroleum  shows  itself.  A  singular  specimen 
of  this  feature  is  in  the  Shoshone  oil-basin,  which 
has  an  area  of  about  sixty  acres,  over  all  of  which 
from  time  immemorial  oil  has  been  oozing,  and 
gradually  hardening  into  a  crust  from  one  and  a 
half  to  three  feet  thick.  But  what  is  remarkable, 
over  this  crust  has  been  deposited  an  alluvial  soil 
several  feet  in  thickness ;  and,  wherever  the  crust  is 
penetrated,  the  oil  at  once  rises  to  the  surface. 
Within  this  area  a  well  was  sunk,  which,  at  the 
depth  of  109  feet,  and  another  at  350,  reached  ap- 
parently a  large  reservoir  of  oil,  the  latter  pour- 
ing out  eighty  barrels  daily.  There  are  a  number 
of  isolated  oil-basins,  and  of  different  sizes  within 
the  Territory,  extending  from  east  to  west  for 
130  miles.  In  the  northeast  portion  of  the  Terri- 
tory, on  the  borders  of  Dakota,  is  also  a  large  de- 
posit of  oil.  No  doubt  there  are  many  others  yet 
to  be  found.  Upon  the  whole,  Wyoming  has,  as 
far  as  discovered,  the  most  extensive  oil-bearing 
area,  of  any  State  or  Territory  in  the  Union,  while 
the  oil  itself  is  of  the  best  quality.  (Mm.  Res.  U.  S. 
83-1884.,  p.  21 7,  and  Report  of  the  Governor,  1885.) 

California  Oil. — The  discovery  of  oil  in  Pennsyl- 
vania excited  curiosity  in  the  subject,  and  indications 
of  oil  were  looked  for  all  over  the  country.  This 
led  to  the  finding  of  oil  in  California  (1859),  which 
proved  to  be  so  abundant  that  in  less  than  seven 
years  there  were  seventy  corporations  engaged 
within  the  State  in  producing  petroleum.  In  Hum- 


H4  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

boldt  County  alone  were  from  forty  to  fifty  wells ; 
but  there  was  not  a  flowing  one  of  the  number,  and 
altogether  they  only  pumped  1,200  barrels  in  one 
year.  Speculation  led  to  injudicious  investments,  and 
in  less  than  three  years  the  industry  was  practically 
brought  to  an  end,  but  afterward  renewed,  new 
territory  being  discovered  and  utilized.  The  oil  ter- 
ritory of  the  State  is  estimated  at  about  500  square 
miles,  lying  principally  in  the  south-middle,  and 
southern  portion.  The  entire  oil  territory  of  the 
United  States  is  estimated  at  150,000  square  miles. 

Asphaltum. — This  is  a  mineral  pitch,  or  com- 
pact bitumen,  which  has  an  intimate  connection  with 
petroleum.  This  substance  is  put  to  many  uses,  such 
as  for  paving  streets  and  sidewalks,  for  roofing 
buildings  and  floors,  and  for  lining  cisterns  and  pipes, 
etc.  We  have  in  conection  with  coal  noticed  the  de- 
posit in  West  Virginia,  which  thus  far  discovered  is 
the  only  asphaltum  found  in  a  bituminous  coal-field. 
In  the  lignite  region  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  several 
deposits  occur  in  Colorado,  and  one  exists  in  Idaho. 

Southern  California  possesses  immense  beds  of 
asphaltum  ;  but  as  a  general  rule  it  is  not  very  pure, 
as  when  in  a  soft  state  it  absorbs  a  large  amount  of  ex- 
traneous matter.  A  deposit  is  near  Carpenteria  and 
immediately  on  the  ocean-beach,  and  another  cover- 
ing a  large  area  is  located  seven  miles  west  of  the 
town  of  Los  Angeles  ;  while  in  Santa  Barbara  Coun- 
ty the  beds  are  not  so  large,  yet  they  compensate  in 
having  an  asphaltum  of  a  better  and  purer  quality. 


XIII. 

NATURAL  ^  GAS. 

THIS  gas  has  manifested  its  presence  from  time 
immemorial  by  issuing  from  fissures  in  rocks  or  in 
the  crust  of  the  earth,  but  more  frequently,  because 
less  impeded,  from  springs,  along  whose  course 
within  the  earth  it  has  forced  its  way  from  the 
depths  below.  But  how  it  is  generated  in  Nature's 
laboratory,  and  stored  in  mysterious  recesses  within 
the  earth,  can  be  explained  only  partially  by  either 
the  chemist  or  the  geologist.  It  is  very  often  found 
in  connection  with  petroleum,  and,  when  it  is  met 
with  outside  the  locality  of  the  latter,  it  is  amid  sand- 
stone formations  similar  to  those  in  which  petroleum 
usually  exists.  At  first  when  the  latter  was  sought 
for  by  boring,  and  gas  obtruded,  it  was  deemed  a 
nuisance  ;  but  time  and  experience  have  changed  all 
that.  Gas-wells  vary  in  depth,  because  gas  lies  deep- 
er in  some  localities  than  in  others,  ranging  from  a 
few  hundred  feet  to  more  than  two  thousand. 

In  1878  parties  were  drilling  for  petroleum  at 
Murraysville,  eighteen  miles  from  Pittsburg.  "  A 
depth  of  1,320  feet  had  been  reached  when  the  drills 


1 1 6  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States* 

were  thrown  high  into  the  air,  and  the  derricks 
broken  to  pieces  and  scattered  around  by  a  tremen- 
dous explosion  of  gas,  which  rushed  with  hoarse 
shriekings  into  the  air,  alarming  the  population  for 
miles  around.  A  light  was  applied,  and  imme- 
diately there  leaped  into  life  a  fierce,  dancing 
demon  of  fire,  hissing  and  swirling  about  with  the 
wind,  and  scorching  the  earth  in  a  wide  circle 
around  it."  (Triumphant  Democracy, p.  24.2^)  Thus, 
for  five  years,  "  the  giant  leaped  and  danced  as 
madly  as  at  first,"  when  the  gas  was  captured,  and 
by  means  of  pipes  was  conducted  to  the  city  and 
utilized  in  making  iron. 

Utilizing  the  Gas. — According  to  history,  the 
first  application  in  this  country  of  natural  gas — de- 
rived from  a  burning-spring — for  illuminating  and 
heating  purposes,  was  made  in  1821,  at  Fredonia, 
Chautauqua  County,  New  York.  This  led  to  fur- 
ther investigation  of  the  subject,  but  it  took  more 
than  half  a  century  to  bring  about  its  complete  utili- 
zation, both  for  light  and  fuel.  One  of  the  first  in- 
stances (1874)  in  which  it  was  used  in  manufacturing, 
where  great  heat  was  required,  was  when  it  was 
brought  in  pipes  eighteen  miles  to  an  iron-mill  near 
Pittsburg  ;  there  it  was  "  used  under  twelve  boilers, 
in  nine  heating-furnaces,  and  in  twenty-eight  pud- 
dling-furnaces."  This  has  within  ten  years  from  that 
time  been  far  exceeded  ;  one  iron-establishment  it  is 
estimated  consumes  1,000,000  cubic  feet  an  hour — for 
meters  are  not  used  in  ascertaining  the  amount  of  nat- 


Are  the  Stores  of  Gas  exhaustible?     117 

ural  gas  consumed.  "  When  the  Edgar  Thomson 
works  at  Pittsburg  are  running  to  the  full  capacity, 
the  gas  consumed  takes  the  place  of  400  tons  of  coal 
a  day."  (Mm.  Res.  U.  S.,  1883-188^  p.  239.)  The  utili- 
zation of  this  gas  in  Pittsburg  and  vicinity,  since 
1883,  has  been  marvelous  in  extent,  not  only  in  manu- 
facturing, but  in  the  simplest  form  of  domestic  use. 
It  seems,  however,  to  be  more  effective  in  producing 
heat  than  in  giving  light,  it  having  the  former  power 
more  than  the  latter.  It  is  very  easily  handled,  and  the 
heat  generated  being  even  sufficient  for  the  purpose 
of  making  steel.  Manufacturers  of  glass  use  it  espe- 
cially in  making  flint-glass,  as  the  heat  can  be  better 
regulated,  while  the  burning-gas  is  free  from  smoke, 
which  often  discolors  the  glass.  In  making  the  finest 
fancy  ware,  it  burns  into  the  glass  the  beautiful  flow- 
ers painted  in  different  metallic  colors ;  the  process 
requiring,  sometimes,  as  many  as  five  separate  burn- 
ings, according  to  the  .number  of  colors  used. 

Are  the  Stores  of  Gas  exhaustible  ? — Some  of  the 
wells  in  this  gas  area  have  been  in  use  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  the  flow  has  not  diminished  perceptibly  ; 
while  some  have  given  out  within  a  few  weeks,  oth- 
ers again  have  diminished  slowly,  and  in  the  course 
of  time  have  failed  entirely.  Often,  when  a  well  is 
flowing  freely,  if  in  its  neighborhood  another  is  drilled, 
the  former  shows  at  once  a  falling  off  in  the  flow  ; 
the  inference  is,  that  both  are  drawing  from  the  same 
reservoir.  When  oil-wells  cease  to  flow,  recourse  is 
had  to  the  pumps  ;  but  there  is  no  such  remedy  for 


1 1 8  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

the  gas-well.  Natural  gas,  in  respect  to  its  final  ex- 
haustion, is  governed  by  laws  similar  to  those  that 
govern  coal,  as  the  latter  does  not  itself  increase,  but 
confers  benefits  upon  the  current  generation  by  being 
used  up,  thus  fulfilling  the  object  of  its  creation,  and 
as  there  is  no  clear  evidence  that,  in  the  laboratory 
of  Nature,  gas  is  still  forming  or  making,  it  must  in 
time,  in  the  process  of  conferring  these  benefits,  be 
also  exhausted. 

Where  Natural  Gas  is  found. — In  respect  to  the 
area  of  territory  in  which  natural  gas  may  yet  be  dis- 
covered, a  clew  may  be  obtained  in  its  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  petroleum,  and,  where  the  latter  exists, 
the  former  is  likely  to  be  found  in  the  vicinity. 
We  have  no  definite  data  to  locate  that  area,  and  can 
learn  of  it  only  from  time  to  time  as  discoveries  are 
made  in  different  portions  of  the  country.  When 
there  is  a  call  for  its  use,  perhaps  other  areas  will  be 
discovered,  that  may  be  as  valuable  as  the  wonder- 
ful one  in  the  vicinity  of  Pittsburg. 

The  production  of  natural  gas  is  by  no  means  lim- 
ited to  the  vicinity  of  the  Iron  City,  since  it  has  been 
discovered  in  many  places  outside  that  region,  and  in- 
deed from  it  far  remote.  Indications  are  that  this 
natural  resource,  in  due  time,  will  be  of  still  greater 
importance  to  the  nation  at  large.  In  Northeastern 
Ohio,  and  in  other  portions  of  the  State,  gas-wells  are 
in  operation,  and  some  of  them  have  been  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  In  West  Virginia,  wells  have  been  drilled 
and  the  gas  used  in  lighting  towns,  and  in  some  in- 


Natural-Gas  Districts.  119 

stances  for  manufacturing  purposes.  In  the  State  of 
Kentucky,  gas  is  known  to  exist  in  the  vicinity  of 
Louisville,  and  in  other  places,  among  which  is  Padu- 
cah.  It  is  also  found  in  the  southern  portions  of  the 
States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois.  According  to  the 
newspapers  of  the  day,  drilling  for  gas  has  been  suc- 
cessful in  the  vicinity  of  Chicago.  The  State  of 
Alabama  has  natural  gas,  and  so  has  the  State  of 
Kansas,  and  it  is  found  in  Davidson  County,  Dakota, 
in  Wyoming  Territory,  and  in  Southern  California. 
These  wells  may  be  the  pioneer  of  discoveries  equal 
in  magnitude  to  those  at  Pittsburg  and  its  neighbor- 
hood. 


XIV. 

IRON-ORES. 

WE  come  now  to  consider  iron,  of  all  the  metals 
the  best  friend  of  man.  It  is  the  only  one  that  can 
be  welded ;  hence  its  immense  utility  in  every  form 
in  which  it  can  be  manipulated,  whether  in  making 
strong  machinery,  as  the  shafts  of  ocean-going  steam- 
ers, or,  when  refined  into  steel,  the  most  delicate  surgi- 
cal instruments,  or  the  finest  needle.  Its  great  value 
to  civilized  man  is  so  evident  that  political  econo- 
mists have  sometimes  taken  its  production  and  uni- 
versal use  as  a  criterion  of  the  material  progress  of 
a  community. 

Theories  as  to  the  Origin  of  Iron. — Though  iron 
is  universally  distributed  throughout  animate  and  in- 
animate creation,  we  shall  not  find  its  ores  lying  in 
the  regular  order  as  we  found  coal,  but  usually  in  beds 
or  deposits,  great  and  small,  and  also  scattered  and 
isolated.  We  can  ascertain  the  ingredients  and  the 
formation  of  coal  from  the  remains  of  the  vegetable 
products  of  which  it  is  composed :  but  we  have  no 
such  clew  to  the  origin  of  iron.  "  Iron-ores  occur  in 
so  many  different  forms,  and  under  so  many  chemi- 


Names  of  Iron- Ores.  121 

cal  combinations,  that  no  one  theory  of  formation 
can  cover  the  coincidents  and  conditions  with  which 
they  are  found."  (Coal,  Iron,  and  Oil,  p.  5<5/.)  It  may 
have  been  originally  a  simple  and  pure  element, 
placed  amid  the  other  material  of  the  earth,  but  by 
its  affinity  attracted  to  itself  certain  foreign  sub- 
stances, and  was  deposited  under  different  circum- 
stances in  places  almost  innumerable.  Though  in 
theory  it  may  be  a  simple  element,  and  in  minute 
particles,  yet  its  combination  with  these  various  sub- 
stances appears  to  have  modified  its  character,  and 
we  find  the  iron  and  steel  made  from  certain  ores, 
tough  and  strong,  while  that  from  others  is  compara- 
tively brittle  and  weak. 

Names  of  Iron-Ores. — The  reader  may  be  inter- 
ested in  the  characteristics  and  significant  names  of 
the  various  iron-ores  that  will  come  under  his  no- 
tice in  this  volume,  and  in  the  forms  in  which  they 
are  found  in  the  mine.  The  most  important  of  these 
ores,  because  of  its  good  properties  and  being  much 
diffused  and  quite  abundant,  is  named  hematite,  from 
a  Greek  word  meaning  blood-like,  as  the  ore  is  of  a 
red  color.  Iron  has  a  strong  affinity  for  oxygen,  and 
in  hematite  it  is  combined  with  three  parts  of  that 
substance  to  two  of  itself.  This  ore  is  also  called  spec- 
ular, when  it  is  in  crystals  and  has  a  bright  metallic 
luster.  Another  form  is  called  brown  hematite,  having 
the  same  proportions  as  the  first,  but  in  addition  is 
allied  with  water,  the  common  name  of  the  latter 
being  bog-ore,  because  found  in  bogs  and  swamps — the 


122  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

scientific  one  being  limonite,  derived  from  a  word 
having  a  similar  meaning  ;  this  ore  often  takes  the 
form  of  black  sand,  and  is  usually  magnetic.  And, 
finally,  magnetic  ore,  as  it  attracts  iron  and  some  iron- 
ores — the  common  name,  lodestone.  It  belongs  to 
the  chemist  to  give  the  rationale  of  these  various 
combinations,  and  to  the  geologist  to  designate  the 
geological  ages  of  their  formations. 

The  localities  in  which  iron-ores  are  found  are 
very  diversified.  Some  are  in  bogs  and  swamps  ; 
some  in  the  mountains  and  hills,  and  often  within  the 
crevices  of  various  kinds  of  rocks ;  some  amid 
ledges  of  limestone  or  in  lumps  in  the  limestone  soil ; 
and  some  in  connection  with  coal-measures. 

New  England  Iron-Ores.  —  These  States  can 
boast  but  little  of  large  deposits  of  iron-ore,  and 
those  they  have  are  widely  distributed,  and  iso- 
lated one  from  another,  though  for  the  most  part 
they  produce  a  remarkably  fine  quality  of  iron. 
The  ores  of  that  section  belong  generally  to  the 
limonite  or  bog-ore  variety,  where  it  is  often  found 
in  the  form  of  black  sand,  which  is  usually  magnetic. 
Many  of  these  beds  of  ore  were  discovered  and 
utilized  in  colonial  times  and  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary period,  and  immediately  after.  In  nu- 
merous places  are  still  to  be  seen  the  ruins  of  fur- 
naces of  the  olden  time,  that  have  ceased  work, 
either  because  of  the  exhaustion  of  the  ore-beds, 
which  was  frequently  the  case,  or  the  expense  of  ob- 
taining charcoal  from  the  forests  on  the  neighboring 


Deposits  of  Iron-Ore.  123 

hills  or  mountains.  In  1734  iron  was  manufactured 
in  Salisbury,  Connecticut,  and  in  1784  there  were  in 
Massachusetts  seventy-six  iron-works,  most  of  them 
being  small.  Certain  ores  in  the  western  portion  of 
the  latter  State  produce  so  fine  an  iron  as  to  hold  its 
own  in  spite  of  the  competition  arising  from  districts 
west  of  the  Hudson,  in  which  is  not  only  an  abun- 
dance of  ore,  but  also  near  by  plenty  of  coal  and  lime- 
stone. For  illustration,  the  ore  deposit  near  Lanes- 
boro  furnishes  an  iron  so  tough  that  car-wheels  are 
made  almost  directly  from  it.  Upon  the  whole,  the 
iron  obtained  from  these  isolated  deposits  of  ore  is 
remarkable  for  its  fine  qualities. 

Connecticut  has  many  of  these  peculiar  deposits, 
especially  in  the  town  of  Salisbury,  in  Litchfield 
County.  This  series  of  iron-mines  extends  into  the 
neighboring  counties  of  Columbia  and  Dutchess  in 
New  York  State,  and  also  into  Berkshire  in  Massa- 
chusetts. The  area  in  which  these  isolated  deposits 
of  iron  are  scattered  is  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles 
wide  and  perhaps  from  forty  to  fifty  in  length.  The 
ores  found  in  this  somewhat  noted  region  are  brown 
hematite,  but  are  different  in  their  positions,  some 
being  in  deposits  and  others  in  veins.  The  iron  pro- 
duced from  the  Salisbury  ores  was  once  in  such  high 
repute  that  the  American  navy  was  in  a  measure 
supplied  with  cannon  that  were  made  from  it ;  but  it 
is  now  principally  used  in  the  more  humane  and 
peaceful  operation  of  making  car-wheels. 

The  Great  Iron-Ore  Belt. — Before  noticing  in  de- 


124  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

tail  a  few  of  the  prominent  deposits  located  in  the 
famed  Alleghany  region,  let  us  glance  at  the  outlines 
of  this  immense  belt  of  iron-ores.  It  commences  in 
Northern  New  York,  at  the  iron-mines  on  the  west 
shore  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  stretches  toward  the 
southwest,  including  the  isolated  deposits  in  the  Cat- 
skill  region,  and  in  Northern  New  Jersey  ;  thence 
along  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Alleghanies,  includ- 
ing the  numerous  small  valleys  and  hills  running 
east  and  west,  together  with  the  famed  Cumberland 
Valley  and  its  extensions,  the  Shenandoah  and  the 
Tennessee,  through  Northwestern  Georgia,  taking  in 
Northern  Alabama,  and  then  turns  northeast  along 
the  west  slope  of  the  same  range,  across  Eastern 
Kentucky,  West  Virginia,  and  Western  Pennsylvania, 
including  the  iron-mines  of  Eastern  Ohio.  Between 
the  eastern  and  western  slopes  within  the  mountains 
themselves  are  also  deposits  of  iron-ore,  coal,  and 
limestone.  The  entire  length  of  this  mineral  belt  is 
more  than  a  thousand  miles,  and  the  average  width 
about  seventy.  What  a  contrast  the  Alleghanies 
present  in  the  possession  of  this  wealth  of  the  most 
useful  minerals,  when  compared  with  the  Alps,  the 
Andes,  or  our  own  Rocky  Mountains  and  Sierra  Ne- 
vada !  The  iron  and  coal  of  this  region  alone,  in 
their  usefulness  to  man,  are  far  in  advance  of  the 
gold  and  silver  of  California  and  Nevada,  of  Mexico 
and  South  America.  The  application  of  the  two 
former  to  the  various  kinds  of  industry  will  do  more 
to  advance  the  true  welfare  of  the  Nation  than  could 


New   York  Iron-Ores.  125 

be  done  by  all  the  gold  and  silver  of  the  world  com- 
bined. "  The  annual  output  of  the  two  precious 
metals,  in  the  United  States,  is  about  the  same  in 
value  as  that  of  the  pig-iron,  but  far  below  the  value 
of  the  coal-production."  (Mineral  Resources  U.  S., 
1883-84.,  p.  312.) 

New  York  Iron-Ores. — In  the  extreme  northeast 
of  the  great  belt  are  located  the  iron-mines  belong- 
ing to  the  Lake  Champlain  district.  These  mines 
were  worked  in  colonial  times  and  produced  "  the 
best  bar-iron  which  had  ever  made  its  appearance  on 
the  London  market  from  America."  (Pearses  Iron- 
Manufacture^  p.  64..)  These  mines  are  on  the  west 
shore  of  the  lake,  and  extend  into  the  Adirondacks 
and  occupy  quite  a  large  area.  The  ore  is  magnetic 
in  its  character  and  is  rich  and  productive.  There  are 
numerous  isolated  iron-ore  beds  in  the  State,  both 
east  and  west  of  the  Hudson ;  one  of  the  most  inter-; 
esting  of  these  is  at  Stirling  Mountain,  in  Orange 
County.  This  mine  belonged  originally  to  William 
Alexander,  an  officer  in  the  army  of  Washington, 
but  who  also  had  a  title,  Lord  Stirling — hence  the 
name.  This  is  a  very  large  deposit  of  ore  known  as 
black  oxide,  which  produces  an  iron  equal  to  any  in 
the  world  for  its  excellent  properties,  and  in  conse- 
quence it  has  always  been  worked  to  advantage,  as 
its  yield  averages  71  per  cent  of  metallic  iron.  Mount 
Stirling  rises  about  400  feet  above  the  plain,  and  on 
its  eastern  slope  are  the  mines.  It  is  noticeable  that 
the  rocks  amid  which  this  magnetic  ore  is  found, 


126  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

geology  says,  are  of  the  same  character  as  those  of  the 
Danemora  mine,  in  Sweden,  which  produces  an  iron 
famous  the  world  over  for  its  excellent  qualities. 

New  Jersey  Iron-Ores. — The  northern  portion 
of  this  State  is  full  of  iron-ore.  Says  an  authority 
in  speaking  of  this  region  :  "  The  amount  of  ore  de- 
veloped within  the  ranges  of  hills  in  New  Jersey 
is  practically  unlimited."  It  greatly  enhances  the 
value  of  the  ore  thus  located  that  it  is  within  easy 
reach  of  the  anthracite  coal-fields  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  ores  are  easily  mined,  and  the  facility  of  thus 
obtaining  fuel  renders  this  mineral  region  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  world  for  producing  iron. 

Pennsylvania  Iron-Ores. — The  magnetic  ores  just 
mentioned  are  in  intimate  connection  with  those  in 
Pennsylvania,  into  which  State  they  extend  in  a 
southwest  direction,  being  mined  in  numerous  places 
along  that  line,  the  beds  varying  in  thickness  from 
two  feet  to  fourteen. 

There  are  rich  iron-mines  in  the  vicinity  of  Read- 
ing ;  and  west  of  that  city,  near  the  town  of  Lebanon, 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  deposits  of  iron-ore 
within  the  State,  inasmuch  as  it  is  somewhat  allied 
with  copper.  This  ore  is  different  in  structure  from 
the  other  ores  of  that  limestone  region.  The  de- 
posit is  thought  to  be  the  result  of  an  internal  con- 
vulsion by  which  the  three  hills  in  which  the  ore 
is  found  were  pushed  up  between  or  through  the 
ledges  of  limestone.  These  hills  are  in  height  re- 
spectively 78,  98,  and  312  feet;  in  the  latter  is  the 


Virginia  Iron-Ores.  127 

principal  bed  of  ore,  which  is  500  feet  in  its  ex- 
treme thickness.  Well  may  the  miners  estimate  that 
there  are  60,000,000  tons  of  ore  "  in  sight"!  This 
immense  deposit  is  worked  as  an  open  quarry,  and 
the  ore  is  removed  from  the  mine  by  relays  of  cars. 
The  ore  is  magnetic,  is  in  a  single  mass  imbedded 
in  a  basin  of  trap-rock,  and  contains  sulphur  and 
oxide  and  carbonate  of  copper,  but  is  virtually  free 
from  phosphorus. 

From  the  Lehigh  region  southwestward,  along  the 
foot-hills  of  the  mountains  and  intervening  valleys, 
are  numerous  deposits  of  iron-ore  extending  across 
the  State  into  Maryland ;  in  the  latter,  magnetic 
ores  are  found,  but  in  limited  quantities.  The  mag- 
netic ores  from  the  Lehigh  region,  southward,  de- 
generate somewhat  in  quality  and  quantity — the 
average  percentage  of  metallic  iron  ranging  from 
37  to  66,  when  compared  with  their  product  farther 
north. 

Virginia  Iron-Ores. — In  what  is  known  as  the 
Piedmont  region,  amid  the  head-streams  of  the 
James  River,  on  the  east  slope  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  are 
numerous  deposits  of  iron-ore,  that  appear  to  run 
more  than  usual  in  regular  line.  These  beds  are 
in  abundance,  and  the  ore  yields  about  69  per  cent 
of  metallic  iron,  as  found  by  analysis  of  a  specimen 
from  a  mine  near  Orange  Court-House.  These  ores 
are  valuable  for  making  steel,  as  they  are  virtually 
free  from  phosphorus.  On  the  western  slope  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  are  also 


128  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

extensive  ore-beds  of  brown  hematite  of  good  qual- 
ity ;  it  yields  from  56  to  60  per  cent  of  metallic  iron. 
These  numerous  iron  deposits  extend  along  the  val- 
ley for  one  hundred  miles  or  more.  This  valley  is 
noted  for  its  fertile  limestone  soil,  and  for  its  abound- 
ing ledges  of  the  same  stone.  The  iron-ores  are  on 
both  sides  of  the  valley,  but  those  on  the  west  side 
are  not  so  rich  as  those  on  the  east ;  though  brown 
hematite,  it  yields  only  46  per  cent  of  metallic  iron. 
These  deposits  of  ores  may  be  described  as  extend- 
ing across  the  State  in  a  northeast-southwest  di- 
rection, and  are  known  to  be  fairly  rich  in  the 
production  of  metal,  while  they  are  also  deemed 
practically  inexhaustible,  and  contain  every  variety 
of  ore  for  making  iron  and  steel.  The  ores  are 
easily  mined,  while  at  hand  there  is  limestone  to 
flux  them  if  the  fuel  is  brought  thither.  In  the 
extreme  southwestern  portion  of  the  State,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Wytheville,  occurs  an  extensive  deposit 
of  red-hematite  ore.  "The  vein  is  twenty-two  feet 
in  thickness,  and  yields  62  per  cent  of  iron." 

North  Carolina  Iron-Ores. — In  this  State,  lying 
along  the  eastern  foot  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  are  nu- 
merous deposits,  consisting  of  black  oxide  of  iron 
and  of  the  magnetic  variety,  yielding  70  per  cent  of 
metallic  iron,  and  of  an  excellent  quality.  The  ore 
is  often  granular  or  friable,  and  resembles  black 
sand,  and  produces  an  iron  that  partakes  of  the 
qualities  of  that  of  Stirling  Mountain  in  New  York 
State.  These  veins  of  ore  are  very  extensive,  and 


East    Tennessee  Iron-Ores.  129 

stretch  across  the  State  into  Georgia.  The  whole 
region  along  the  foot-hills  of  the  mountain-range 
is  peculiarly  rich  in  minerals — copper  as  well  as 
magnetic  iron-ores  and  red  oxides.  These  ores 
are  now  accessible  to  the  coal-mines  on  the  Kana- 
wha,  West  Virginia,  by  the  Ohio  and  Chesapeake 
Railway,  along  the  cliffs  of  New  River.  This  iron- 
ore  field  of  the  southern  end  of  the  Alleghany  or 
Cumberland  range  of  mountains  would  appear,  from 
the  class  of  ores  and  the  immense  area  occupied, 
to  be  superior  in  that  respect  to  any  other  portion 
of  that  extensive  range. 

In  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  State,  South 
Carolina  has  magnetic  and  specular  ores  in  inex- 
haustible quantities,  on  the  western  slope  of  King's 
Mountain.  Brown  hematite  occurs  also  amid  the 
mica  slates  of  the  same  region,  while  bog-iron  ore 
is  found  in  nearly  every  county  of  the  State. 

East  Tennessee  Iron-Ores.  —  In  passing  over 
from  North  Carolina  to  the  west  side  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  we  enter  the  East  Tennessee  Valley,  there  to 
find  the  counterpart  of  the  iron-ore  deposits  we  have 
just  noted.  These  numerous  and  large  beds  of  ore 
are  of  the  brown  hematite  variety  ;  they  extend  across 
the  State  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  along  the  west- 
ern foot-hills  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to  Chattanooga,  then 
across  Northwestern  Georgia  and  into  Northern  Ala- 
bama. In  the  vicinity  of  Chattanooga  are  vast  beds 
of  iron-ore  ;  while  in  Georgia,  on  the  head-streams  of 

the  Coosa  River  and  along  its  west  bank,  these  de- 
10 


130  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

posits  can  be  traced  for  about   100  miles  into  Ala- 
bama. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  State  of  Tennessee  is  re- 
markably rich  in  iron-ores,  as  it  contains  almost 
every  variety — magnetic  and  hematite,  limonite  or 
bog-ore  and  specular.  In  addition  to  these  is  an- 
other valuable  ore,  the  red  fossil,  a  species  of  hema- 
tite, which  is  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  northeast- 
ern portion  of  the  State,  but  penetrates  into  North 
Carolina.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  latter  class  of 
ore  is  found  near  Lake  Ontario  in  the  State  of  New 
York ;  and  again  in  Pennsylvania,  and  thence  at  in- 
tervals in  a  southwest  line  to  North-Central  Alabama. 
West  of  the  Great  Tennessee  Valley  are  two  others 
parallel  with  it ;  within  the  latter  two  are  numerous 
beds  of  iron-ore:  one  valley,  twenty-five  miles  long, 
runs  northeast  into  Kentucky  ;  the  other,  sixty  miles 
in  length,  extends  southwest  into  Alabama.  The 
amount  of  iron  here  stored  for  future  use  is  enor- 
mous. In  connection  with  the  coal-measures  of  the 
State,  is  also  an  abundance  of  the  carbonate  iron-ores. 
In  the  southeast  part  of  the  State  "  in  some  beds 
of  ore,  manganese  prevails  in  such  proportion  as  to 
make  the  manufacture  of  spiegeleisen  or  ferro-man- 
ganese  a  possible  source  of  profit."  The  largest 
body  of  bog-ores  or  limonites  in  the  State  is  found 
in  Middle  Tennessee — known  as  the  Western  iron- 
belt.  This  vast  deposit  covers  irregularly  an  area 
forty  miles  wide,  and  extends  entirely  across  the 
State  from  north  to  south — an  area  of  about  4,000 


Georgia  Iron- Ores.  131 

square  miles.  (Handbook  of  Tennessee?)  "  In  the 
manufacture  of  car-wheels  and  best  refined  bar-iron 
the  ores  of  Tennessee  have  no  superior."  (Mineral 
Resources  of  U.  S.,  Survey,  1883-84.,  p.  279.) 

Alabama  Iron-Ores. — In  this  State  is  an  immense 
iron-ore  field  known  as  Red  Mountain  ;  this  is  an  out- 
spur  of  the  Alleghanies  or  Cumberland,  and  is  thus 
named  from  the  tinge  given  its  soil  by  the  red  oxide 
of  iron.  It  is  a  narrow  ridge,  twenty-five  miles  long 
and  from  four  to  five  wide,  and  appears  to  have  been 
pushed  up  in  the  midst  of  the  Black  Warrior  coal-field 
already  referred  to  (p.  62),  and  in  consequence  has 
coal  on  both  sides.  This  deposit  of  ore  is  red  hem- 
atite ;  is  very  extensive,  while  the  beds  range  from 
two  to  fifteen  feet  in  thickness.  Limestone  is  at 
hand,  while  the  coal  near  by  can  be  coked,  and  the 
ore  produces  a  good  soft  iron  from  the  furnaces. 

Georgia  Iron-Ores. — The  main  iron-ore  district  of 
this  State  is  in  its  northwest  portion,  and  in  the  shape 
of  a  triangle,  the  first  side  of  which,  running  east  and 
west,  is  the  boundary-lines  of  the  States  of  Tennes- 
see and  North  Carolina ;  the  second,  being  due 
south,  is  the  Alabama  ;  and  for  the  third  side,  the 
southeast,  the  prolongation  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  trend- 
ing southwest  Within  this  triangle,  which  is 
drained  by  the  Coosa  River  and  its  numerous  head- 
streams,  is  a  region  rich  in  iron-ores.  Here  red  or 
fossiliferous  or  dye-stone  ore  occurs  in  vast  quanti- 
ties in  beds,  outcropping  in  sandstone  ridges  that  en- 
circle coal-measures.  Amid  strata  of  shales  and  sand- 


132  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

stones  are  from  two  to  four  beds  of  iron-ore ;  the 
thickness  of  these  varies  from  a  few  inches  to  ten  or 
twelve  feet.  These  ores  underlie  an  area  of  "  not 
less  than  350  square  miles,  including  that  portion  of 
the  region  only  where  are  outcroping  beds,  that  are 
believed  to  be  of  workable  thickness."  (Common- 
wealth of  Georgia,  p.  118.)  Here  are  found  facilities 
for  smelting — both  coal  and  limestone  ;  while  the 
whole  region  is  densely  timbered,  and  the  ores  them- 
selves are  practically  inexhaustible. 

On  the  eastern  part  of  this  region,  in  the  foot-hills 
of  the  mountains,  are  found  deposits  of  specular  ore  ; 
and  in  the  lower  portions,  between  the  mountains, 
large  but  detached  deposits  of  limonite  or  bog-ore. 
Magnetic  iron-ores  occur  principally  in  two  belts  ex- 
tending across  the  State  :  one  of  these  follows  in  a 
southwesterly  direction,  the  western  base  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  ;  the  other  extends  all  along  the  Chattahoochee 
Ridge.  This  ore  is  met  with  in  fragments  over  a 
large  extent  of  country,  and  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe  that  extensive  deposits  of  it  remain  to  be  dis- 
covered. 

Kentucky  Iron-Ore  Field. — In  tracing  northward 
the  iron-ore  deposits  on  the  west  side  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  or  Cumberland,  we  come  first  to  Kentucky, 
which  State  has  its  southeast  boundary  along  the 
crest  of  that  range  of  mountains.  In  that  section  of 
the  State,  the  rivers  that  specially  belong  to  it  have 
their  head-fountains,  such  as  the  Licking,  the  Ken- 
tucky, and  the  Cumberland.  On  the  head-streams  of 


West   Virginia  Iron-Ores.  133 

these  rivers,  and  amid  the  foot-hills  of  the  mountains, 
are  numerous  beds  of  iron-ore,  so  many  that  it  is  esti- 
mated that  the  area  within  the  State  where  iron-ore  is 
found  is  about  7,000  square  miles.  This  ore  was  dis- 
covered and  utilized  by  the  early  settlers,  who  had  a 
furnace  on  Licking  River  toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century.  "An  iron  region,  in  length  125  miles  by 
50  in  width,  lies  along  the  Cumberland  River  and 
its  tributaries.  Rich  deposits  exist  over  the  whole 
district ;  some  of  these  ore-banks  exhibit  a  thickness 
from  50  to  200  feet  of  ore  overlying  limestone."  (Iron 
Manufactures,  p.  96.)  The  ore  is  all  brown  hematite 
of  different  varieties,  such  as  honeycomb  and  others. 

It  is  evident  that  a  series  of  iron-ore  deposits  in 
the  Hanging  Rock  district  once  extended  in  the  gen- 
eral direction  of  the  Big  Sandy ;  as,  nearly  opposite 
its  mouth,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ohio,  is  an  extensive 
district  containing  the  same  class  of  ores,  of  which 
district  Ironton  is  the  .center.  Perhaps  the  interven- 
ing links  of  the  chain  of  ore-banks  were  worn  away 
by  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  River  in  cutting  their  way 
through.  It  may  be  added  that  "  the  iron  district 
lying  between  Marietta  and  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  ex- 
hibits a  development  of  the  ores  of  the  coal-measures 
equaled  in  no  other  part  of  our  country." 

West  Virginia  Iron-Ores.— We  have  already  seen 
this  State,  in  proportion  to  its  size,  represented  as 
one  of  the  richest  in  the  Union  in  coal  and  other  min- 
eral wealth.  This  statement  is  verified  in  the  fact 
that  within  its  boundaries  are  numerous  and  exten- 


134  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

sive  deposits  of  iron-ores,  which  consist  of  all  the  va- 
rieties known.  These  stretch  along  amid  the  west- 
ern foot-hills  of  the  Alleghanies  from  the  Kentucky 
line  on  the  southwest  to  that  of  Maryland  and  Penn- 
sylvania on  the  northeast.  In  connection  with  these 
iron-ores  is  an  abundance  of  coal  and  limestone ;  the 
latter's  influence  upon  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is 
seen  in  the  forests  so  remarkable  for  the  large 
growth  of  the  trees  upon  the  hills,  and  in  the  abun- 
dant crops,  especially  in  the  valleys,  when  the  land  is 
properly  cultivated.  In  giving  an  outline  of  the  na- 
tive riches  of  this  State,  an  authority,  Edmund  Kirke, 
says  :  "  It  may  be  enough  to  state  that  the  whole 
region  between  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  the 
Ohio  River  is  underlaid  with  vast  deposits  of  all  the 
more  useful  metals  and  minerals,  richer  and  more  ac* 
cessible,  than  are  to  be  found  anywhere  else  on  thia 
continent." 

Johnstown  Iron-Ores. — Pursuing  our  course  to, 
ward  the  northeast  we  reach  Johnstown,  Cambria 
County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies in  the  valley  between  them  and  an  outspur, 
the  lower  but  parallel  range  known  as  Laurel  Hill. 
Here  is  a  striking  instance  in  which  the  Creator 
has  placed  the  ingredients  near  one  another,  that 
man  may  the  more  easily  combine  them  for  his 
benefit.  For  the  mountain-sides  in  the  vicinity  are 
interspersed  with  veins  of  iron-ores,  seams  of  bitu- 
minous coal,  and  withal  ledges  of  limestone.  Sixty 
feet  above  the  highest  coal  is  a  double  bed  of  com- 


Chestnut  Ridge  Iron-Ores.  135 

pact  carbonate  iron-ore,  an  ore  in  connection  with 
coal-measures  and  ledges  of  limestone — the  tot?.l 
average  thickness  of  the  two  combined  being  from 
two  to  three  and  a  half  feet,  containing  51  per  cent 
of  metallic  iron  ;  in  addition,  brown  hematite  is  mined 
in  the  vicinity.  Owing  to  these  facilities  of  materials 
at  hand,  the  famous  Cambria  iron-works,  located 
here,  have  turned  out  in  one  year,  81,006  tons  of  iron, 
and  steel  rails,  besides  an  immense  amount  of  other 
classes  of  iron.  But  these  works  lay  under  contribu- 
tion other  ore-fields,  some  of  which  are  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  some  from  the  distant  mines  of  Lake 
Superior ;  for  science,  by  means  of  experiments,  has 
demonstrated  that  often  the  best  iron  or  steel  is  pro- 
duced from  the  mixture  of  ores  from  different  de- 
posits. 

Chestnut  Ridge  Ores. — On  the  west  side  of  this 
comparatively  low  ridge,  which  runs  parallel  with 
the  Alleghanies,  we  meet  with  a  series  of  carbonate 
iron-ores.  They  lie  in  veins  penetrating  the  sides 
of  the  mountain  and  also  those  of  its  foot-hills, 
and  extend  across  Pennsylvania  into  West  Virginia. 
Frequently  there  are  several  of  these  veins  of  ore 
lying  one  above  another,  and  ranging  in  thickness 
from  a  few  inches  to  two  feet  and  a  half.  These 
ores  produce  only  from  36  to  38  per  cent  of  me- 
tallic iron.  Of  course,  these  deposits  run  parallel 
with  the  famed  Connellsville  coke-basin,  which  lies 
along  the  west  base  of  the  Chestnut  Ridge,  almost 
its  entire  length. 


136  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

These  ores  were  discovered  and  smelted,  to  be 
sure,  in  a  small  way,  by  the  first  settlers,  as  early 
as  1790;  a  number  of  furnaces  were  put  in  opera- 
tion in  that  region  within  the  space  of  twenty 
years  or  more.  In  the  county  of  Fayette,  it  is 
claimed  by  some,  were  built  and  operated  the  first 
iron-furnaces  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 

Ohio;  Mahoning  Valley  Iron-Ores. — In  North- 
west Pennsylvania  is  quite  a  large  area  where  iron- 
ore  is  found.  These  deposits  are  near  the  Ohio 
State  line,  and  belong  to  the  coal-measures  or  car- 
bonate class  of  ores,  as  do  the  much  more  exten- 
sive and  rich  deposits  belonging  to  that  State  in 
the  valley  of  Mahoning  River,  a  tributary  of  the 
Alleghany.  In  addition  there  is  here  also  an  abun- 
dance of  coal,  as  already  noticed  (p.  65).  In  this 
valley  iron-ore  was  discovered  by  the  first  settlers, 
and  a  smelting-furnace  was  erected  in  1808,  but 
the  fuel  used  was  charcoal.  The  State  of  Ohio 
has  many  large  deposits  and  varieties  of  iron-ore ; 
these  beds  are  located  in  widely  separated  districts, 
and,  in  that  respect,  the  State  may  be  deemed  rich. 

Michigan  Iron-Ores.— Hitherto  we  have  found 
iron-ores  in  more  or  less  proximity  to  the  coal  and 
limestone  needed  to  smelt  them.  We  come  now 
to  immense  deposits  near  which  is  neither  coal  nor 
limestone,  but  the  compensation  is  in  the  great  facil- 
ities, partly  by  water,  for  transporting  the  ore  to 
where  it  can  be  cheaply  smelted.  Hence  these 
ores  in  enormous  quantities  are  taken  to  the  nu- 


Lake  Superior  Iron-Ores.  137 

merous  furnaces  on  the  Great  Lakes,  to  Pittsburg 
and  iron-works  in  Middle  Pennsylvania,  to  Brazil, 
Indiana,  and  to  many  other  important  centers  of 
iron-manufacture.  By  means  of  experiment  science 
has  shown  that  oftentimes  the  value  of  the  iron  pro- 
duced is  enhanced  by  the  proper  blending-  of  ores 
found  in  different  localities,  which  are  often  distant 
one  from  the  other. 

The  iron-mines  belonging  to  the  United  States 
on  Lake  Superior  are  in  the  Upper  Peninsula  of 
the  State  .of  Michigan ;  while  on  the  northwest  part 
of  the  same  peninsula,  and  bordering  on  the  lake, 
are  also  copper-mines,  but  southeast  and  south  of 
these  is  an  iron-ore  region,  altogether  composed 
of  about  6,000  square  miles ;  that  is  where  iron-ore 
is  found  in  mines  more  or  less  rich.  Marquette,  on 
the  lake,  is  the  outlet  for  these  mines,  and  has  given 
its  name  to  that  ore  region.  These  ores  are  of  the 
usual  varieties,  but  have  properties,  nevertheless, 
that  belong  to  themselves  alone.  The  soft  hema- 
tites of  this  region  are  closely  allied  in  character 
to  the  brown  hematites  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania ; 
here  are  also  found  magnetic  ores,  red  specular  or 
specular  hematite.  The  metallic  iron  contained  in 
these  Lake  Superior  first-class  ores  averages  63  per 
cent. 

Amid  one  class  of  rocks — Huronian,  according 
to  geology — workable  deposits  of  iron-ore  are  found 
in  great  abundance  on  the  north  border  of  the  pen- 
insula, and  likewise  in  Canada  on  the  north  and  east 


138  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

shore  of  Lake  Superior  itself.  It  would  seem  that 
the  area  now  occupied  by  the  lake  was  once  a 
portion  of  a  vast  iron-ore  field,  and  that  the  depres- 
sion was  made  by  some  mighty  convulsion  of  the 
earth.  The  area  of  the  "  Huronian "  deposits  is 
about  2,000  square  miles. 

Frequently  in  these  mineral  districts  is  found 
what  the  miners  call  "  float-ore  " — that  is,  fragments 
that  through  some  force  have  become  detached  from 
the  main  ledge  and  removed,  sometimes  a  mile  or 
two,  from  the  parent  stock ;  they  are  known  as 
iron  bowlders.  These  fragments  are  of  various 
sizes,  often  amounting  to  as  much  as  a  hundred 
tons.  There  are  in  this  mineral  district  of  the 
State  of  Michigan  eighty-five  corporations  engaged 
in  mining  iron-ores,  and  in  1884  these  companies 
shipped  of  these  ores  2,455,924  gross  tons  (2,240 
pounds  to  the  ton),  to  be  smelted  in  the  furnaces 
of  other  States. 

Wisconsin  Iron-Ores. — The  iron-ores  of  this  lake 
region  extend  into  this  State,  they  having  the  same 
general  characteristics.  The  deposits  are  extensive 
and  are  found  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  princi- 
pally in  Dodge  County,  in  the  vicinity  of  "  Iron 
Range."  The  formation  is  amid  rocks,  and  the 
quality  of  the  ore  is  good  and  the  quantity  abun- 
dant, especially  in  the  Gogebic  Range. 

Minnesota  Iron-Ores.— In  the  northeastern  por- 
tion of  this  State,  bordering  on  the  northwest  shore 
of  Lake  Superior,  is  an  extensive  region,  compara- 


Missouri  Iron- Ores.  139 

tively  sterile  in  soil,  but  rich  in  mineral  wealth. 
It  is  known  as  the  Vermilion  Lake  district  and 
also  as  the  "  Iron  Range,"  as  the  latter  name  im- 
plies ;  within  it  are  enormous  deposits  of  iron-ore. 
The  length  of  this  district  or  range  is  about  sev- 
enty-five miles,  while  it  varies  in  width  from  twenty 
to  forty — the  area  being  about  2,250  square  miles. 
This  region  has  been  recently  (1882)  opened;  but  it 
has  been  thoroughly  explored,  and  in  nearly  every 
portion  iron-ore  was  found  cropping  out  under 
different  conditions,  sometimes  between  rocks,  and 
then  again  imbedded  only  a  few  feet  below  the 
surface.  The  prevailing  ore  is  hard  hematite,  hav- 
ing characteristics  similar  to  the  ores  found  on  the 
south  shore  of  the  lake,  and,  as  the  result  of  more 
than  thirty  assays  of  specimens  taken  from  widely 
separated  localities,  these  ores  were  found  to  pro- 
duce metallic  iron  at  a  rate  of  per  cent  ranging 
from  65  to  70. 

"  Of  the  vast  extent  and  uniform  good  quality 
of  the  iron-ores  of  this  district  there  is  no  room 
for  doubt.  .  .  .  All  these  ores  are  sufficiently  low 
in  phosphorus  for  Bessemer  purposes,  but  they  con- 
tain little  or  no  manganese."  (Mineral  Resources  of 
U.  S.,  1883-84.,  p.  266.) 

Missouri  Iron-Ores. — This  State  is  rich  in  coal, 
but  richer  in  iron-ores,  though  they  are  unequally 
distributed  over  its  territory,  as  in  the  northern 
portion  there  is  very  little  iron,  but  an  extensive 
field  of  coal.  In  the  south  central  half  of  the  State, 


140  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

below  the  Missouri  River,  are  valuable  deposits  of 
bog-ore.  The  latter  are  found  in  the  region  be- 
tween the  Osage  River  and  the  Ozark  Mountains, 
as  well  as  red  hematite  on  the  upper  streams  of 
the  river. 

There  are  three  iron  districts  in  Missouri :  the 
eastern,  including  the  Iron  Mountain  specular  ores ; 
the  central  specular  ores ;  and  the  western  or  Osage 
region,  with  its  immense  deposits  of  bog-ore  and  red 
hematite.  These  districts  form  a  broad  ore-belt  ex- 
tending across  the  State  from  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Osage,  and  south  of  the  Missouri,  but  nearly 
parallel  with  the  latter  river.  The  bog-ores  lie 
both  northwest  and  southeast  of  the  central  or 
specular-ore  district.  Within  this  region  have  been 
discovered  thus  far  nearly  300  deposits,  great  and 
small,  of  iron-ores  of  the  three  different  kinds  men- 
tioned above.  It  is  announced  by  geologists  that 
all  undisturbed  bog-ore  deposits  in  the  State  are 
resting  on  limestone,  and  the  latter  often  even  of 
different  geological  formations.  This  ore  lies  in 
irregular  cracks,  pockets,  or  crevices,  either  on  or 
near  the  surface  of  the  various  limestones.  All 
along  the  Mississippi  in  Southeastern  Missouri  are 
found  these  deposits  of  bog-ore,  in  beds  ranging 
in  thickness  from  a  few  inches  to  four  feet. 

Iron  Mountain. — The  most  remarkable  feature  of 
the  ores  of  Missouri  is  that  of  the  famous  Iron 
Mountain  and  Pilot  Knob  deposits.  These  vast 
treasures  lie  in  a  southwest  direction  about  seventy- 


Pilot  Knob.  141 

five  miles  from  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  The  former  is 
dome-shaped  and  in  height  about  250  feet  above  the 
plain,  and  is  entirely  covered  by  what  is  termed 
"  surface  ore "  in  the  form  sometimes  of  "  moss- 
grown  blocks,  some  of  which  are  many  tons  in 
weight."  These  uncovered,  loose,  and  small  pieces 
and  blocks  of  ore  have  been  thus  exposed  by  the 
wearing  away  in  the  course  ©f  many  centuries  of  the 
earthy  matter  in  which  they  were  once  enveloped. 
The  internal  structure,  as  far  as  ascertained  by  min- 
ing operations,  shows  the  mountain  to  be  composed 
of  iron-ore  in  connection  with  porphyry.  On  the 
summit,  as  has  been  noted,  is  an  enormous  mass  of 
solid  ore,  and  veins  of  the  same  kind,  but  in  different 
sizes,  run  in  all  directions.  Iron  Mountain,  and  its 
immediate  surroundings  of  lower  hills,  constitute  the 
largest  deposit  in  the  State.  The  ore  is  very  uni- 
form in  its  characteristics,  though  in  the  veins  and 
beds  the  forms  are  not  regular.  The  ore  is  mag- 
netic, and  frequently  has  even  a  distinct  polarity  like 
the  needle,  and  yields  about  70  per  cent  of  metallic 
iron. 

Pilot  Knob. — Six  miles  distant  from  Iron  Mount- 
ain is  a  hill  shaped  like  a  cone  and  nearly  circular, 
known  as  Pilot  Knob.  Its  diameter  at  the  base  is 
about  one  mile,  and  its  height  above  the  plain  is  662 
feet  and  1,521  above  the  ocean.  The  Knob  has  sev- 
eral beds  of  hard  specular  ore.  There  is  one  of  these 
forty  feet  in  thickness,  but  separated  in  two  portions 
by  a  slate-seam  of  ten  inches  up  to  three  feet.  The 


142  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

lower  portion  is  thirty-one  feet  in  depth  and  "  is  very 
compact,  dense,  and  the  ore  hard  "  ;  it  contains  60 
per  cent  of  metallic  iron,  while  the  upper  one  yields 
only  53  per  cent,  but  each  has  very  little  sulphur  or 
phosphorus,  their  principal  impurity  being-  silica. 
The  ore  of  Pilot  Knob  is  specular,  but  differs  from 
that  of  Iron  Mountain,  and  some  others  in  the  State, 
in  being  for  the  most  part  unmagnetic.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  nearly  one  tenth  of  the  bulk  of  these  two 
mountains  is  pure  ore. 

Texas  Iron-Ores. — Deposits  of  iron-ore  are  found 
in  a  few  places  within  the  State,  though  they  have 
not  been  much  developed.  In  Rusk  County,  it  is 
said,  there  are  extensive  mines  of  iron-ore  of  excel- 
lent quality.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  State  with- 
in the  counties  of  Jack  and  Young,  and  between  the 
rivers  Brazos  and  Trinity,  is  a  large  deposit  of  iron- 
ore.  The  ore  has  been  pronounced  of  excellent 
quality  by  experts.  It  has  not  yet  been  developed. 
The  latter  have  been  utilized,  perhaps,  more  than 
any  others  in  the  State. 

Arkansas  Iron-Ores. — In  Independence  County, 
of  this  State,  a  very  valuable  discovery  has  recently 
been  made  of  an  iron-ore — manganese — that  is  suit- 
able for  the  manufacture  of  spiegeleisen.  This  de- 
posit is  so  immense  in  quantity  that,  of  itself,  it  could 
render  the  United  States,  in  the  manufacture  of  that 
species  of  iron,  independent  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

New  Mexico  Iron-Ores. — The  deposits  of  iron-ore 
in  this  Territory  are  numerous  ;  they  extend  from  the 


New  Mexico  Iron-Ores.  143 

Raton  Mountains,  on  the  borders  of  Colorado,  across 
the  region  drained  by  the  head-streams  of  the  South 
Canadian  River,  a  branch  of  the  Arkansas,  and 
farther  south  through  the  middle  portion  of  the  Ter- 
ritory, on  both  sides  of  the  Rio  Grande  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Santa  Fe,  and  down  south  beyond  Socorro. 
The  ores  located  near  Santa  Fe  are  magnetic,  and 
are  also  in  the  neighborhood. of  both  coal  and  lime- 
stone. This  may  likewise  be  said  of  the  ores  that 
are  found  in  Bernalillo  County,  which  possesses  fine 
seams  of  coal.  It  is  said  that  all  the  iron-ore  depos- 
its of  the  Territory  are  in  the  vicinity  of  an  abun- 
dance of  both  coal  and  limestone.  With  these  advan- 
tages, this  Territory  at  no  distant  day  may  take  its 
place  as  a  successful  miner  and  manufacturer  of  iron. 

East  of  the  Gallinas  Mountains,  and  about  thirty 
miles  west  of  the  town  of  Socorro,  is  an  extensive 
district  covered  with  nodules  or  rounded  masses  of 
iron-ore,  weighing  each  from  100  to  500  pounds,  the 
ore  itself  being  quite  pure  and  productive  of  metallic 
iron.  Excellent  iron-ore  is  found,  also,  in  several 
mountain-ranges  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  Ter- 
ritory. 

"  It  is  stated  that  iron-ore  occurs  in  many  places 
in  Arizona,  and  some  very  fine  beds  of  hematite  are 
reported  in  Gila  County.  But  as  yet  none  of  the  beds 
are  worked. "  (Mineral  Resources  of  U".  S.,  p.  289.) 


XV. 


IRON   IN  THE   ROCKY   MOUNTAINS — ON  THE    PACIFIC 
SLOPE. 

Colorado  Iron-Ores. — There  are  many  deposits 
of  iron-ore  in  this  State  ;  of  these  a  few  have  been 
opened  in  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas.  The  Hot 
Springs  mines,  of  which  there  are  a  number,  are 
located  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Sangre  de 
Cristo  range.  The  ore  is  a  porous  brown  hematite 
of  pure  character,  occurring  in  separate  masses  on 
the  slopes  of  the  foot-hills,  there  being  no  regular  or 
continuous  veins. 

There  are,  also,  quite  extensive  beds  of  iron-ore 
south  of  Leadville,  near  Gunnison  City,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Gunnison,  a  branch  of  the  Colorado.  The  ore 
found  here  is  rich,  producing  68  per  cent  of  metal- 
lic iron.  The  amount  of  iron-ores  is  so  large  in  the 
region  south  of  Pike's  Peak  as  to  warrant  the  estab- 
lishment at  South  Pueblo  of  very  extensive  works 
for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing  iron  and  steel,  and 
also  for  rolling  plate-iron  and  making  nails. 

Utah  Iron-Ores.  —  This  Territory  has  beds  of 
iron-ore  in  numerous  places  within  its  boundaries. 


Wyoming  Iron-Ores.  145 

Some  of  these  ores,  having-  been  analyzed,  were 
found  to  contain  from  50  to  65  per  cent  of  metallic 
iron.  One  extensive  deposit  is  about  sixteen  miles 
long  by  three  wide.  Amid  this  area  stands  Iron 
Mountain,  which  rises  1,500  feet  above  the  plain. 
The  ore  is  hematite  and  magnetite  ;  the  latter  at- 
tracts the  magnet,  but  does  not  itself  become  a  mag- 
net, having  two  poles.  Some  of  this  ore  furnishes 
metallic  iron  of  from  61  to  64  per  cent.  Iron  depos- 
its appear  to  be  well  distributed  in  Utah  amid  the 
foot-hills  of  the  ranges  of  mountains,  and  are  worked 
to  a  moderate  extent  compared  with  some  of  those 
in  other  Territories. 

Wyoming  Iron-Ores. — There  are  three  kinds  of 
ore  in  this  Territory  :  the  magnetic,  the  hematite, 
and  the  carbonate — the  latter  two  being  the  more 
prominent.  An  important  bed  of  hematite  ore  is  at 
the  base  or  foot-hills  of  the  Seminoe  Mountain,  a  few 
miles  west  of  the  Platte  River,  and  about  twenty- 
five  miles  north  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway.  The 
ore,  as  proved  by  analysis,  is  of  a  superior  quality, 
while  a  "  scientific  measurement  of  the  area  it  occu- 
pies shows  it  to  be  practically  inexhaustible."  The 
carbonate  ores  of  the  Territory  are  superior  and  val- 
uable, as  they  contain  the  elements  so  important  in 
the  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel  by  the  Bessemer 
process.  In  addition,  in  their  vicinity  is  a  vast  field 
of  good  lignite  coal  "  for  fuel  and  coking  and  plenty 
of  limestone  for  fluxing  purposes."  The  Territorial 

geologist — Prof.  Aughey — as    quoted    by   the    Gov- 
ii 


146  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

ernor  in  his  report  to  the  President,  says :  "  An 
abundance  of  the  best  of  ore,  easily  accessible,  and 
fuel  and  fluxes,  also  close  at  hand,  are  present  at  the 
southwestern  base  of  the  Seminoe  Mountain  to  a  de- 
gree rarely  found  elsewhere."  In  Laramie  County, 
about  forty  miles  northwest  of  Cheyenne,  occurs  an 
enormous  mass  of  iron-ore,  so  extensive  as  to  give 
the  name  Iron  Mountain  to  the  district.  "  This  local- 
ity is  capable  of  furnishing  indefinite  quantities  of  iron- 
ore."  (Mineral  Resources  of  U.  5.,  1883-84.,  /.  285^) 

California  Iron-Ores. — Rich  deposits  of  hematite, 
magnetic,  and  other  ores,  are  found  in  this  State, 
and  indeed  this  mineral  occurs  in  more  or  less  quan- 
tities in  twenty-one  of  the  fifty-two  counties  in  the 
State.  An  extensive  mine  on  the  American  River, 
in  El  Dorado  County,  has  a  vein  about  three  feet 
thick,  the  ore  of  which  carries  a  high  percentage  of 
metallic  iron.  Along  many  of  the  beaches  of  the 
coast  are  also  found  magnetic-iron  sands  ;  these  are 
extensive,  though  they  have  not  hitherto  been  made 
very  available,  whatever  they  may  become  in  the  fu- 
ture. The  people  of  the  State  have  been  in  the  past 
so  much  engaged  in  the  more  profitable  business  of 
gold  and  silver  mining  that,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  notable  instances,  they  have  postponed  the  de- 
velopment of  their  wealth  in  iron-ore.  Thus  far 
California  has  depended  rather  upon  her  neighbors 
for  this  metal  than  upon  her  own  furnaces,  mean- 
while importing  the  greater  portion  of  what  she  used. 

Oregon  Iron-Ores.— This  State  has  in  masses  the 


Washington    Territory  Iron-Ores.       147 

usual  iron-ores,  bog  or  limonite,  hematite  and  mag- 
netic, all  of  which  can  be  easily  mined.  Beds  of  ore 
extend  from  a  point  opposite  Kalima,  on  the  Colum- 
bia River  southward,  and  also  on  the  Willamette  al- 
most to  the  falls.  To  smelt  the  latter  ores,  furnaces 
have  been  established  on  the  river  a  short  distance 
south  of  Portland.  Iron-ores  in  numerous  and  large 
deposits  are  located  in  several  of  the  eastern  counties 
of  the  State,  all  waiting  to  be  developed. 

Washington  Territory  Iron-Ores. — The  Puget 
Sound  basin  has,  throughout  its  entire  extent,  num- 
bers of  immense  beds  of  bog-iron  ore  of  the  best 
quality,  especially  in  the  counties  of  Jefferson,  King, 
and  Pierce.  This  bog-ore  is  mixed  to  advantage  in 
smelting  with  hematite,  "  brought  from  Texada 
Island,  British  Columbia,  and  limestone  from  San 
Juan  Island,  in  the  American  group,  the  latter  used 
as  a  flux,  thus  producing  an  excellent  article."  Brown 
hematite  of  fine  quality  has  been  discovered  in 
Skagit  County,  and  magnetic  ore,  also,  in  King 
County.  In  the  same  region  "  the  Derry  Mines 
extend  almost  due  north  and  south,  and  are  nearly 
vertical.  The  veins  range  in  thickness  from  six  to 
1 50  feet.  The  thickest  vein  is  magnetic  iron-ore,  the 
richness  of  which  in  metallic  iron,  and  its  almost  ab- 
solute freedom  from  all  deleterious  substances,  ren- 
der it  extremely  valuable,  especially  for  the  manu- 
facture of  Bessemer  steel."  Six  specimens  of  this 
class  of  ore  yielded  from  67  to  70  per  cent  of  me- 
tallic iron. 


XVI. 

OBSERVATIONS   ON   IRON. 

IT  will  be  noted  that  in  the  United  States  the  de- 
posits of  iron-ore  are  very  much  diffused,  and  some- 
times remote  from  one  another.  These  ores  differ 
somewhat  in  their  characteristics.  Some,  when  un- 
mixed with  others  of  better  quality,  do  not  produce 
a  specially  good  iron,  and  some  are  suitable  for  the 
manufacture  of  the  higher  grades  of  iron  and  of 
steel ;  the  latter  class  appears  to  be  confined  to  lim- 
ited areas,  though  they  abound  in  quantities  suffi- 
cient for  the  Nation's  use. 

In  nearly  every  instance,  within  our  wide  do- 
main, we  have  seen  that,  where  iron-ore  exists,  in 
the  vicinity  is  found  plenty  of  fuel — it  may  be  coal, 
or  wood  to  make  charcoal — and  also  limestone,  so 
essential  for  the  fluxing  or  causing  the  iron  melted 
in  the  furnace  to  flow  easily  into  molds  as  the 
intense  heat  compels  it  to  exude  from  the  baser 
material  infolding  the  primitive  ore.  One  remark- 
able instance  of  the  absence  of  both  coal  and  lime- 
stone occurs  in  the  Lake  Superior  iron-region ;  but 
that  is  quite  compensated  by  the  cheap  and  unrl 


The  Change  in  the  Iron.  149 

valed  facilities  for  transporting  these  ores  to  where 
the  former  two  can  be  easily  obtained. 

Spiegeleisen. — Within  recent  years  discoveries  of 
beds  of  a  peculiar  iron-ore,  and  experiments  on  the 
same,  have  demonstrated  that  the  United  States 
have  in  abundance  ores  suitable  for  manufacturing- 
Bessemer  steel.  Experts  declare  that  "  we  can  make 
as  good  iron  for  crucible  steel  as  the  Swedes  do, 
if  we  would  only  be  as  painstaking  as  they  are." 
In  addition,  we  can  supply  ourselves  from  our  own 
mines  in  the  production  of  Spiegeleisen  and  ferro-man- 
ganese,  and  thus  be  in  that  respect  independent  of 
the  outside  world.  We  now  export  manganese  to 
Great  Britain  to  be  used  in  making  steel,  while  our 
own  manufacturers  of  that  article  use  domestic  ores. 

The  Change  in  the  Iron. — Within  recent  years 
a  revolution  has  taken  place  in  the  means  employed 
to  extract  the  iron  from  the  ore ;  but  still  more  strik- 
ing have  been  the  modes  introduced  by  which  the 
iron  itself  is  refined,  until  it  takes  the  form  of 
steel:  and  thus  for  all  practical  purposes  the  value 
of  the  metal  has  been  greatly  enhanced,  so  that 
now  Bessemer  steel  is  largely  used  for  purposes 
in  which  formerly  rolled  iron  was  employed  ex- 
clusively. Once  it  took  weeks,  even  after,  with 
many  manipulations,  the  iron  had  been  prepared 
for  being  refined  into  steel ;  but  to-day,  by  the 
Bessemer  process,  at  the  second  or  third  remove 
from  the  ore,  that  result  is  attained  and  within  a 
few  hours,  while  under  certain  circumstances,  at 


150  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  tates. 

the  third  or  fourth  remove,  the  iron  is  made  into 
steel  rails.  Because  of  its  strength  being  so  much 
greater  than  of  the  old-fashioned  iron,  and  of  its 
less  weight  and  greater  durability,  steel  is  used, 
instead  of  iron,  for  almost  every  purpose,  and  in 
the  end  is  cheaper  to  the  consumer.  The  being 
made  of  steel  adds  immensely  to  the  usefulness  of 
the  ordinary  utensils  of  the  household  of  the  me- 
chanic and  of  the  farmer.  The  latter  derives  very 
great  advantages  in  the  various  combinations  of 
steel  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  his  farming 
utensils ;  witness  the  simple  but  light  and  strong 
steel  hoe  and  the  steel  plow,  compared  with  the 
cumbersome  ones  of  the  olden  time,  not  to  speak 
of  its  use  in  the  machines  which  make  the  farmer's 
labors  of  to-day  light  compared  with  those  of  former 
times:  even  from  the  toil  of  preparing  the  ground 
for  the  seed  and  in  harvesting  the  crop,  and  mak- 
ing it  ready  for  the  mill  or  for  the  market. 

We  have  already  noticed  (p.  103)  our  immense 
resources  in  respect  to  coal  when  compared  with 
those  of  Europe,  and  in  relation  to  deposits  of  iron- 
ore  we  appear  to  be  equally  as  much  in  advance. 

The  Bessemer  Process. — In  relation  to  the  mode 
of  making  steel,  the  reader  has  noticed  the  use  of 
the  term  "  Bessemer  process."  That  term  denotes 
in  a  remarkable  manner  the  application  of  science 
in  refining  iron  into  steel,  and  thereby  greatly  en- 
hancing the  practical  value  of  the  iron  itself.  The 
name  is  derived  from  that  of  the  inventor,  Sir  Henry 


The  Bessemer  Process.  151 

Bessemer,  an  Englishman,  though  of  German  de- 
scent. "  The  old-fashioned  way  of  manufacturing 
steel  was  first  to  produce  wrought-iron  in  bars,  to 
be  placed  in  a  furnace  and  imbedded  between  layers 
of  charcoal,  and  then  subjected  to  the  heat  of  the 
burning  charcoal,  the  air  being  excluded  ;  this  pro- 
cess continued  for  at  least  two  weeks,  and  often 
longer."  From  this  steel  thus  prepared  was  made 
cast-steel. 

After  experimenting  for  about  ten  years,  Sir 
Henry  at  length  discovered  a  process  by  which 
iron  is  refined  into  steel  usually  at  the  second  re- 
move from  the  ore :  accomplishing  in  about  thirty 
minutes  that  which  formerly  took  two  or  three 
weeks !  The  new  method  removes  the  impurities 
in  the  iron  by  literally  burning  them  up  and  forc- 
ing their  de'bris  out  of  the  metal.  This  end  is  at- 
tained by  the  application  of  intense  heat  to  the  raw 
or  pig  iron,  by  means  of  a  peculiarly  constructed 
vessel  called  a  "  converter  " — as  it  converts  iron  into 
steel.  This  huge  (almost  pear-shaped)  crucible  is 
swung  on  hinges  or  trunnions,  and  is  moved  by 
machinery,  so  that  it  can  be  turned  over  on  the 
side  to  receive  the  red-hot  pig-iron,  and  then  placed 
upright,  after  which  it  can  be  so  turned  as  to  pour 
out  the  molten  metal  into  the  ladle.  The  converter 
is  peculiarly  constructed :  in  the  bottom  are  a  hun- 
dred or  more  holes  in  which  are  inserted  tubes 
about  one  fourth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  through 
which  air  is  forced  at  a  pressure  of  twenty-five 


152   Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

pounds  or  more  to  the  square  inch.  To  be  pre- 
pared for  the  reception  of  the  raw  red-hot  iron 
the  converter  itself  is  heated  to  a  white  heat ;  it  is 
turned  on  the  side  and  the  iron  put  in,  and,  after 
the  draught  of  air  is  applied,  it  is  turned  into  an 
upright  position — the  tremendous  blast  preventing 
the  obstruction  of  the  air-tubes  by  the  melted 
metal.  Now  is  exhibited,  on  a  small  scale,  a  pecul- 
iar volcano.  The  roaring  noise  made  by  the  air- 
blast,  and  bubbling  of  the  molten  mass,  can  be  heard 
for  a  long  distance,  and  a  stream  of  sparks  made 
by  the  consuming  impurities,  and  issuing  from  the 
mouth  of  the  converter,  blinds  the  spectator  with 
their  dazzling  whiteness.  In  less  than  thirty  min- 
utes the  combustion  is  completed,  as  indicated  by 
the  sparks  ceasing,  but  followed  by  a  lurid  trans- 
lucent glare  of  light  from  the  molten  metal  now 
in  a  glowing  white  heat.  The  iron  is  now  nearly 
pure  and  in  a  fluid  state,  so  that  it  can  be  poured 
almost  as  easily  as  water.  There  remains  still  a 
small  quantity  of  the  oxide  of  iron,  to  remove  which 
a  sufficient  amount  of  spiegel-iron  is  run  into  the 
mass.  The  manganese  of  the  latter  at  once  decom- 
poses the  oxide,  and,  taking  up  the  oxygen,  frees  the 
iron,  while  it  itself  passes  into  a  slag  or  oxide  of  man- 
ganese, which  is  skimmed  off.  A  portion  of  the 
manganese  remains  in  the  mass,  "giving  it  its  steel 
properties." 

The  combustion  being  complete  and  the   metal 
ready  for  the  molds,  the  converter  is  turned  and  its 


Manganese.  153 

contents — now  molten  steel — are  poured  into  an  im- 
mense ladle,  which  is  also  moved  by  machinery,  and 
which  in  turn  pours  the  liquid  metal  into  the  appro- 
priate molds.  These  ingots  of  steel  are  at  once 
ready  to  be  transferred  to  rollers  and  made  into 
rails,  or  to  the  great  hammers  to  be  fitted  for  other 
purposes.  The  American  process  "  is  a  total  renova- 
tion of  the  English  method,  and  a  great  improve- 
ment." (Knight '  s  Mechanical  Dictionary^ 

Manganese. — As  we  have  just  seen  the  great 
value  of  manganese  in  refining  iron  or  converting  it 
into  steel,  the  reader  may  not  deem  it  out  of  place 
if  we  briefly  notice  this  (comparatively  speaking)  re- 
cently discovered  metal.  It  is  found  in  combination 
with  several  other  minerals ;  traces  of  it  exist  in  the 
soil  and  also  in  plants.  In  a  pure  state  its  color  is  a 
"  dusky,  whitish  gray  ;  it  is  very  hard  and  difficult 
to  fuse  "  ;  in  this  form  it  is  of  little  or  no  utility  ;  but 
in  certain  combinations  is  very  valuable,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  the  manufacture  of  steel.  It  is  also  useful  in 
several  other  combinations,  such  as  in  the  making  of 
glass,  when  it  neutralizes  a  green  tint  derived  from 
the  presence  of  iron,  or  when  under  certain  condi- 
tions it  aids  in  obtaining  chlorine  and  bromine,  and 
in  producing  certain  pigments ;  but  all  these  are 
as  nothing  compared  with  its  immense  utility  in 
making  steel.  The  mystery  involved  in  its  thus  re- 
fining iron  belongs  to  the  metallurgist  or  chemist  to 
explain. 

As  a  general  rule,  where  iron-ores  occur  there  is  a 


154  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

small  percentage  of  manganese  ;  but  its  peculiar  use- 
fulness remained  unknown,  and  its  special  virtue  in 
refining  iron  was  unsuspected.  It  had  been  noticed 
that  certain  ores  made  better  iron  than  others,  but 
why,  was  a  mystery.  At  length  it  was  discovered 
that  such  ores  had  in  combination  with  them  more 
than  usual  of  manganese.  This  elicited  the  surmise 
that  the  latter  metal  might  have  something  to  do 
with  this  refining  process  ;  if  so,  why  not  supply  the 
manganese,  where  there  was  a  deficiency,  and  test 
the  matter?  The  culmination  of  these  experiments 
is  in  the  Bessemer  process,  in  which,  after  the  im- 
purities incident  to  ordinary  iron-ores  are  removed, 
the  manganese,  in  correct  proportions,  is  put  into  the 
"  converter,"  and  steel  is  the  result. 

Discovery  of  Manganese-Ores.— Thus  was  demon- 
strated the  great  importance  of  manganese  in  this 
special  industry.  The  American  manufacturers  of 
steel  soon  took  measures  in  order  to  ascertain  if  ores 
producing  that  metal  could  not  be  found  within  the 
United  States.  They  wished  to  relieve  themselves 
of  the  immense  financial  burden  in  using  vast  quanti- 
ties of  imported  manganese,  should  they  engage  ex- 
tensively in  making  steel,  while  perhaps  they  had 
within  their  own  land  the  ores  from  which  they 
could  obtain  an  abundance.  The  result  of  this 
effort  has  been,  that  deposits  of  the  required  ore 
have  been  discovered  within  the  Union,  and  that 
they  are  unusually  large  when  compare.d  with  those 
of  Europe.  Some  of  these  ores  had  been  noticed  by 


The  Crimora  Mine.  155 

those  who  were  ignorant  of  their  qualities  which  sci- 
ence had  not  yet  revealed.  The  manganese  deposits 
are  irregularly  distributed  along  the  Atlantic  slope. 
In  Maine  are  a  number  of  mines  of  bog-manganese 
ore  ;  such  deposits  are  also  found,  but  sparingly,  in 
all  the  New  England  States  except  Connecticut,  and 
in  limited  numbers  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 
Manganese-ores  occur  in  New  Jersey,  but  in  combi- 
nation with  zinc  in  that  singular  metal  known  as 
Franklinite — thus  named  from  the  Franklin  furnace, 
in  the  vicinity  of  which  it  exists.  From  Maryland 
to  Georgia,  the  ore  called  black  oxide  of  manganese 
prevails  more  than  the  bog  variety;  the  former  is 
mined  to  much  greater  extent  than  the  latter.  In 
the  Shenandoah  Valley,  in  Augusta  County,  Virginia, 
is  a  valuable  mine — the  Crimora — from  which  at 
first  the  ores  were  shipped  to  England  and  Belgium, 
but  recently  they  have  been  utilized  in  making  spie- 
gel  or  specular  iron.  This  mine  has  an  ore  that  con- 
tains nearly  89  per  cent  of  manganese.  Some  of  the 
deposits  in  the  State  are  quite  large ;  but  to  none  of 
them  could  the  term  inexhaustible  be  justly  applied. 
Manganese-ores  also  occur  in  both  the  Carolinas, 
though,  thus  far  discovered,  they  are  of  a  moderate 
grade,  and  in  the  "  Etowah  region,"  Northwest  Geor- 
gia ;  the  latter  ores  are  utilized  in  making  spiegel- 
iron,  their  average  per  cent  being  from  66  to  80. 
Similar  ores  occur  in  West  Virginia,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Harper's  Ferry.  Many  deposits  are  found  in  Ala- 
bama ;  the  principal  one  yet  discovered  is  in  Calhoun 


156  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

County  ;  manganese-ores  have  also  been  discovered 
in  Dickson  County,  Middle  Tennessee,  and  also  acci- 
dentally found  in  Independence  County,  Arkansas. 
The  latter  is  of  the  black  oxide  variety,  and  occurs 
in  "  pockets  "  ;  but  the  belt  of  territory  in  which  these 
isolated  pockets  are  found  extends  for  some  fifteen 
miles,  while  the  width  is  from  six  to  eight,  having 
an  area,  perhaps,  of  100  square  miles.  Much  of  this 
ore  is  on  the  surface,  or  slightly  imbedded,  as  if  its 
original  surroundings  had  been  washed  away  in  the 
course  of  ages.  The  cost  of  mining  is,  therefore, 
comparatively  cheap,  while  the  average  percentage 
of  metallic  manganese  is  54.  This,  taken  altogether, 
may  be  deemed  both  a  rich  and  extensive  field. 

Manganese  on  the  Pacific  Slope. — Large  deposits 
occur  in  California,  in  Nevada,  and  more  or  less  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  In  San  Francisco  Bay  is  a 
deposit  of  ore  on  a  small  island  some  ten  miles  north 
of  the  city,  which  has  been  opened  to  some  extent. 
The  island  contains  twenty-seven  acres,  and  rises  250 
feet  above  the  water.  The  ore  occurs  in  large  mass- 
es, a  heavy  belt  of  which  extends  for  seven  or  eight 
hundred  feet  across  the  island.  In  Tuolumne  County, 
pieces  of  ore  weighing  100  pounds  have  been  found 
on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  the  deposit  being  simi- 
lar to  that  in  Arkansas.  There  are  quite  a  number 
of  localities  in  the  State  where  manganese-ores  are 
found,  but  they  are  widely  separated;  and  in  time 
other  deposits  may  be  discovered  in  the  intervening 
spaces.  The  main  deposit  of  ore  in  Nevada  is  in 


Spiegel-Iron — Ferro-Manganese.          157 

Nye  County,  and  is  deemed  valuable,  but  hitherto 
has  not  been  utilized  to  any  extent. 

Spiegel-Iron  and  Ferro-Manganese. — The  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  these  two  composite  metals  is  the 
combination  of  iron  in  certain  proportions  with  man- 
ganese. When  the  latter  is  less  than  20  per  cent,  the 
metal  is  called  Spiegel  iron,  from  the  peculiar  specu- 
lar or  crystalline  feature  imparted  to  it  by  the  man- 
ganese, and  when  the  percentage  is  greater  than 
20  it  is  known  as  ferro  (iron)  manganese — "  a  me- 
tallic substance  as  essential  for  the  manufacture  of 
mild  steel  as  spiegel  is  for  steel  rails."  The  latter 
combination,  according  to  the  mode  of  manufacture, 
contains  intermediate  grades  of  percentage  from  20 
up  to  90.  Manganese,  owing  to  the  many  discoveries 
and  experiments  of  chemists  and  metallurgists,  has 
become  very  valuable  because  of  its  susceptibility  of 
making  alloys  with  so  many  metals,  such  as  iron, 
copper,  zinc,  etc.  The  most  important  by  far  of 
these  alloys  is  that  with  iron,  as  shown  by  its  im- 
parting to  it,  in  the  form  of  steel,  numerous  charac- 
teristic properties  in  proportion  to  the  percentage  in 
which  it  is  introduced,  making  the  steel  thus  modi- 
fied exceedingly  valuable  for  many  purposes  for 
which  ordinary  steel  is  not  used.  But  we  can  not  go 
into  details. 

It  was  found  almost  impossible  to  apply  pure 
manganese  in  the  manufacture  of  steel,  because  of 
the  difficulty  of  melting  it  in  order  to  secure  its  as- 
similation with  the  molten  iron.  Recourse  was  had 


158  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

to  spiegel-iron,  as  it  is  rich  in  manganese,  having 
been  made  by  fusing  together  the  oxides  of  the  ores 
of  iron  and  of  that  metal,  and  in  addition  experiment 
had  proved  that  the  manganese  in  this  combination 
would,  for  some  unexplained  cause,  assimilate  with 
the  molten  iron  in  the  converter,  and  impart  to  it 
an  element  that  changed  it  into  steel.  It  was  of  vast 
importance  to  American  manufacturers  of  steel  that 
they  should  be  able  to  supply  themselves  with  man- 
ganese from  their  own  resources.  Hence  energetic 
efforts  were  made  to  discover,  in  their  own  country, 
ores  producing  spiegel-iron  ;  and  we  have  seen  with 
what  remarkable  success  these  efforts  have  been 
crowned.  Until  they  made  their  own,  they  imported 
spiegel-iron  from  Europe — the  largest  quantity  in 
one  year  being  25,000  tons.  In  1870  the  making  of 
spiegel-iron  was  commenced  at  Newark,  New  Jer- 
sey, and  the  article  produced  was  deemed  equal  to 
the  imported.  Numerous  American  establishments 
are  to-day  engaged  in  the  same  enterprise,  and  sup- 
ply themselves  with  ores  from  their  own  ample 
mines.  England  now  imports  from  us  manganese- 
ores. 

Duties  due  to  Future  Generations.— It  is  not  pre- 
sumed that,  because  ores  of  a  metal  are  within  reach, 
for  that  reason  they  must  be  mined.  The  people 
of  the  future  have  an  interest  in  this  matter,  and  that 
interest  or  right  ought  to  be  respected.  That  par- 
ent would  justly  merit  the  condemnation  of  the  intel- 
ligent and  the  humane  who,  in  using  his  property, 


Duties  to  Future  Generations.  159 

should  willingly  waste  it  to  the  detriment  of  his  chil- 
dren. Under  such  circumstances  he  would  be  looked 
upon  as  a  monster.  May  not  there  be  quite  a  paral- 
lel case  in  one  generation  wasting  the  heritage  that 
jointly  belongs  to  future  generations?  If  this  wise 
and  humane  principle  were  carried  out  in  practice, 
would  we  see  our  forests  dwindling  away  in  wanton 
destruction  ;  the  wastage  in"  our  coal-mining  opera- 
tions ;  and  the  selfish  capturing  of  fish  and  cutting  off 
the  sources  of  supply  for  those  who  are  to  come 
after  us  ?  In  what  category  of  patriots  shall  we 
place  those  legislative  bodies  and  officials  who,  in 
control  of  the  Nation's  affairs,  should  have  an  eye 
only  to  the  selfish  advancement  of  the  present  gener- 
ation, but  at  the  expense  of  those  that  are  to  follow 
— that  would  neglect,  for  illustration,  to  use  without 
wasting  our  numerous  natural  resources,  or  to  put 
in  train  influences  of  education  that  would  mold  the 
present  rising  generation,  enabling  them  as  parents 
to  acquire  tastes  that  would  insure  their  making  ap- 
propriate efforts,  in  order  that  their  own  children 
might  receive  better  intellectual  and  moral  training 
than  they  themselves  enjoyed  ?  Such  influences 
would  necessarily  go  on  forever,  from  generation  to 
generation. 


XVII. 

GOLD. 

How  evenly  Nature  has  balanced  her  gifts  of 
metals  to  the  American  people !  The  eastern  and 
the  middle  portions  of  the  Union  are  lavish  with 
their  wealth  of  iron,  while  the  western  is  equally 
as  bounteous  in  its  gold  and  silver.  The  compari- 
son may  extend  still  further,  and  as  the  former 
furnishes  but  little  gold  and  no  silver,  so  the  latter 
yields  but  a  small  amount  of  iron. 

Characteristics  of  Gold. — Gold  is  always  found 
pure  in  nature,  and  in  its  native  state  has  no  affin- 
ity for  other  substances.  Thus  when  imbedded  in 
a  kind  of  quartz  known  as  gold-bearing,  and  when 
the  latter,  by  the  action  of  the  elements,  becomes 
disintegrated,  the  gold  is  left  free,  and  is  often 
found  in  small  particles  in  the  beds  of  streams  or 
where  the  gold-bearing  rock  has  been  dissolved. 
Often,  in  tracing  these  streams  to  their  fountains 
in  the  mountains,  the  latter  are  found  to  have  among 
their  strata  gold-bearing  quartz.  Though  having 
in  its  native  state  no  affinity  for  other  substances, 
yet  science  enables  us,  in  preparing  gold  for  the 


Gold  on  the  Atlantic  Slop  161 

mint,  to  combine  it  with  copper  in  such  proportions 
as  to  render  it  sufficiently  hard  to  diminish  much 
of  the  wastage  incident  to  its  being  used  as  coin. 

Gold  on  the  Atlantic  Slope. — There  are  two  gold- 
bearing  areas  in  the  United  States :  one — much  the 
smaller — on  the  Atlantic  slope,  the  other  on  the  Pa- 
cific. Gold  has  been  found  in  the  State  of  Vermont, 
but  in  very  limited  quantities,  and  as  yet  attempts 
have  failed  to  find  it  in  any  appreciable  amount  in 
the  original  quartz-rock  whence  it  came.  In  one 
instance,  among  others  in  which  mere  particles  were 
picked  up,  was  found  a  lump  of  pure  gold  weighing, 
it  is  said,  eight  ounces  and  a  half,  to  which  were 
attached  a  few  small  quartz-crystals.  "  The  gold 
formation  of  Vermont  is  a  narrow  and  irregular 
belt  extending  through  the  entire  length  of  the 
State."  (Whitney s  Metallic  Wealth,  etc.,  p.  124.^  But 
the  precious  metal  is  not  obtained  from  the  original 
quartz-rock  in  paying  quantities. 

Particles  of  gold  have  been  picked  up  in  the 
State  of  Maryland,  and  also  in  Virginia;  the  latter 
finding  is  mentioned  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  in  his 
"  Notes  on  Virginia."  In  these  he  states  that  a 
lump  of  gold,  weighing  seventeen  pennyweights, 
was  found  near  the  Rappahannock  River ;  but  that 
may  have  been  lost  by  an  Indian,  and  who  perhaps 
obtained  it  from  North  Carolina,  as,  from  what  the 
Indians  told  De  Soto  concerning  "the  refining  of 
gold,  they  appear  to  have  known  of  it  in  that  re- 
gion. (A  merican  People,  p.  56.) 


12 


1 62  Natitral  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

All  along  the  Atlantic  slope,  from  Vermont  to 
Georgia,  in  the  places  where  traces  of  gold  are 
found,  "  the  geological  structure  is  the  same  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other,"  while  "  the  matrix  " — the 
substance  in  which  metallic  ores  are  found — "  of  the 
gold  is  invariably  quartz."  Half  a  century  ago  two 
gold-mines  were  worked  in  the  Piedmont  region  of 
Virginia,  and  these  in  twenty  years  increased  to  a 
dozen  or  more ;  but  none  of  them  were  in  a  true 
sense  successful,  because  of  the  lack  of  the  precious 
metal  itself :  in  consequence,  these  mines  have  long 
since  been  virtually  abandoned. 

North  Carolina  Gold. — The  region  most  produc- 
tive of  gold  on  the  Atlantic  slope  is  in  North  Caro- 
lina, though  it  is  also  found  in  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  In  1799  quite  a  large  lump  of  gold  was 
picked  up  in  the  State  first  mentioned,  and  {his 
discovery  was  the  first  indication  given  of  its  pres- 
ence in  that  region.  Mines  were  discovered  in 
the  course  of  years  and  worked  in  a  crude  sort 
of  way,  but  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  gold 
was  obtained  principally  from  washings.  At  length 
it  was  ascertained  that  the  precious  metal  was  in 
the  veins  of  certain  quartz-rocks,  and  attention  was 
directed  to  these  "  vein-mines."  In  time  there  were 
nine  different  localities  in  which  gold  was  found,  and 
where  mining  operations  on  a  comparatively  small 
scale  were  carried  on,  sometimes  at  great  expense 
and  not  with  corresponding  profit.  These  mines 
were  worked  till  the  discovery  of  the  much  greater 


Belt  of  Quartz-Veins.  163 

producing  gold-fields  of  California,  at  which  time 
they  were  nearly  abandoned.  Since  the  recent  war 
more  effective  and  scientific  methods  have  been  in- 
troduced, and  the  mines,  especially  in  North  Caro- 
lina, have  again  been  worked  to  better  advantage. 
"  The  gold  of  this  State  is  generally  more  or  less 
alloyed  with  silver,  varying  from  pure  gold  on  the 
one  side  to  pure  silver  on  "the  other." 

Says  Mr.  James  P.  Pomeroy,  of  Greensboro,  a 
scientific  miner:  "  In  what  is  known  as  the  Piedmont 
region  is  a  belt  of  quartz-veins  much  disturbed  by 
the  rolling  of  the  ground,  so  that  there  is  no  regu- 
lar dip  to  the  veins,"  which  are  often  interrupted 
with  breaks  or  faults.  This  belt  extends  from  north 
of  Greensboro  in  a  southwest  direction  along  the 
eastern  foot-hills  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to  Charlotte. 
"  Some  of  the  ores  are  of  good  grade,  as  high  as 
one  hundred  dollars  to  the  ton,  some  even  more, 
but  much  of  it  ten  to  fifteen  dollars  to  the  ton." 
South  of  the  belt  mentioned  is  another,  which  is 
not  nearly  so  rich ;  and  still  farther  south  another, 
characterized  by  talc-slates,  which  carry  gold  rocks 
that  "  will  yield  by  simple  stamping  from  three  to 
five  dollars  a  ton.  These  ores  are  generally  termed 
refractory,  from  the  nature  of  the  sulphurets  with 
which  they  are  combined." 

South  Carolina  and  Georgia  Gold. — South  Caro- 
lina has  a  limited  gold-bearing  area,  and  its  mines 
were  nearly  abandoned,  when  a  discovery  of  a  rich 
deposit  in  1852  suddenly  placed  her  in  the  front 


164  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

rank  of  the  gold-producing  States  on  the  Atlantic 
slope.  This  was  the  famous  Dora  mine,  thus  named 
from  the  owner.  This  mine  in  nearly  a  year  and 
a  half  produced  $300,000,  the  expense  of  operating 
being  about  $1,500.  The  gold  was  obtained  in  an 
excavation,  three  hundred  feet  long,  by  twelve  deep 
and  fifteen  wide.  Nuggets  were  sometimes  found 
that  weighed  as  much  as  sixty  pennyweights,  or 
five  pounds  (troy),  but  the  deposit  was  speedily  ex- 
hausted. In  Georgia  the  yield  of  gold  was  at  one 
time  half  a  million  dollars  a  year,  but  its  mines  also 
soon  began  to  give  out.  Small  quantities  of  gold 
have  been  produced  in  the  States  of  Alabama  and 
Tennessee,  though  the  yield  has  grown  less  and 
less. 

The  amount  of  gold  obtained  in  that  region  was 
so  great  that,  in  1838,  the  Government  established 
two  mints,  one  at  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  and  one 
at  Dahlonega,  Georgia ;  these  have  long  since  been 
discontinued,  the  mines  having  virtually  become  ex- 
hausted. 

California  Gold — the  Migration. — The  discovery 
of  gold  in  California,  in  1848,  virtually  revolutionized 
the  trade  and  the  industries  of  the  United  States. 
Within  less  than  two  years,  tens  of  thousands  mi- 
grated thither  from  the  older  States.  They  went  by 
different  routes.  Some  passed  in  sailing-vessels 
around  Cape  Horn,  and  some  crossed  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama  and  found  their  way  up  the  coast,  while 
others  went  by  a  toilsome  journey  across  the  plains, 


The  Migration.  165 

aided  only  by  the  most  primitive  appliances  for 
travel.  All  these  left  vacancies  in  the  various  de- 
partments of  industry  at  home,  which  were  filled 
by  others  at  advanced  wages.  The  knowledge  of 
the  discovery,  even  before  the  effects  were  fully 
realized,  stimulated  the  main  industries  of  the  coun- 
try in  anticipation  of  the  grand  results,  which  in  the 
end  were  beyond  what  was  reasonably  expected. 
These  effects  were  produced  by  means  of  the  im- 
mense amount  of  gold  thus  brought  into  circulation. 
That  being  the  standard  of  value,  prices  of  every 
kind  seemed  to  rise ;  but  the  solution  was  rather  in 
the  fact  that  gold,  because  of  its  abundance,  had  be- 
come cheaper. 

Inroads  of  Foreigners.  —  The  news  spread 
throughout  the  world,  and  "  then  commenced  a 
wandering  of  nations,"  and  chiefly  foreigners  were 
the  first  to  reach  the  land  of  promise,  coming,  espe- 
cially, from  Mexico,  Peru,  and  Chili ;  the  emigrants 
from  those  mining  countries  had  greater  facilities  for 
the  time  being  to  reach  their  destination,  and  in  less 
than  nine  months  after  the  discovery  there  were 
about  15,000  foreigners  on  the  ground  ;  to  these  were 
afterward  added  adventurers  from  China  and  New 
Holland.  At  first  there  were  comparatively  few 
Americans,  but  soon  they  came,  and  like  a  flood.  At 
the  end  of  the  year,  1849,  as  reported  by  a  United 
States  commissioner,  there  were  between  40,000 
and  50,000  Americans  in  the  gold  region.  The 
yield  of  gold  during  the  first  two  years  was  $40,- 


1 66  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

000,000,  and  in  one  year,  1850,  the  amount  reached 
$50,000,000. 

The  Location. — The  great  valley  of  California 
consists  of  the  basins  of  two  rivers — one  running 
south,  the  other  north,  and  uniting  in  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco,  through  which,  by  a  side  cut,  they  gain  ad- 
mission to  the  Pacific.  These  two  rivers — the  Sacra- 
mento and  San  Joaquin — drain  the  gold-bearing  re- 
gion of  the  State.  The  combined  length  of  their  val- 
leys is  nearly  500  miles,  while  their  width  ranges  from 
fifty  to  eighty — 30,000  square  miles.  They  lie  be- 
tween two  mountain-ranges  :  on  the  east  the  Sierra 
Nevada — the  Cascades  of  Oregon — and  on  the  west, 
parallel  with  the  ocean,  the  Coast  Range,  though  of  a 
much  less  elevation,  and  not  so  compact,  but  broken 
into  a  series  of  high  hills.  The  gold-bearing  rocks 
lie  through  the  length  of  the  combined  valleys,  and 
along  the  western  base  of  the  Nevadas  in  a  belt  of 
from  -forty  to  fifty  miles  wide.  Nearly  the  whole 
width  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas  from  base  to  base — on  an 
average  about  seventy  miles — is  on  the  western  slope, 
which  comes  down  to  300  feet  above  the  ocean, 
while  on  the  eastern  side  the  slope  is  very  much 
steeper,  and  is  only  five  or  six  miles  wide,  but  it  ter- 
minates in  the  Great  Basin,  which  is  itself  4,000  feet 
above  the  ocean.  At  right  angles  to  the  Nevadas  or 
nearly  so,  along  their  western  slope,  are  interspersed 
hills  with  steep  sides,  and  corresponding  deep  ravines 
and  gorges,  through  which  at  certain  seasons  the 
waters  from  the  mountains  have  been,  for  long  series 


Beach-Min  ing.  167 

of  ages,  rushing  and  tearing  away  the  soil,  disinte- 
grating the  gold-bearing  rocks,  and  leaving  the  gold 
free  to  sink  of  its  own  weight  into  the  alluvium,  for 
the  miner  to  find  in  the  "  diggings "  known  as 
placers.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  volume  to 
enter  upon  a  description  of  these  once  marvelously 
rich  deposits,  but  which  are  now  almost  exhausted. 
Geology  says  :  "  The  auriferous  veins  of  California 
are  parallel  to  each  other  and  to  the  Sierra  Nevadas, 
except  a  few  smaller  ones.  .  .  .  These  fissures  or 
veins  seem  to  have  been  all  produced  at  the  same 
time,  when  the  latter  were  pushed  up."  (Le  Contes 
Geology,  p.  201.) 

Beach-Mining. — As  the  name  indicates,  this  is 
done  by  washing  the  sands  on  the  ocean-beach.  The 
most  profitable  portion  of  the  coast  for  this  purpose 
is  that  between  Cape  Mendocino,  California,  to  and 
beyond  Cape  Blanco,  Oregon.  During  storms  the 
waves  roll  high  against  the  shore — the  base  of  the 
foot-hills  of  the  Coast  Range — and  wash  down  the 
soil  which  has  within  it  particles  of  gold.  The  lat- 
ter, being  thus  freed,  sinks  amid  the  surging  waters, 
and  when  the  storm  subsides,  and  the  tide  is  out,  the 
sands  sparkle  with  gold.  The  miners,  as  time  is  pre- 
cious, send  early  in  the  morning  an  experienced  and 
skillful  man,  on  horseback,  who,  riding  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  ascertains  where  is  the  best  prospect  for 
gold  ;  this  precaution  is  always  necessary,  as  that  po- 
sition changes  in  almost  every  storm.  The  sand  is 
hastily  gathered  before  the  tide  comes  in,  and  from 


1 68  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

it  the  gold  is  obtained  by  successive  washings.  This 
species  of  mining,  especially  after  storms,  continues 
from  day  to  day  while  the  tide  is  out,  until  that  por- 
tion of  the  beach  is  explored.  The  success  in  this 
class  of  mining  is  quite  variable,  because  on  one  day 
the  sand  will  be  full  of  golden  specks,  but  it  often 
happens  that  by  the  next  it  has  been  washed  away, 
and  the  bare  rocks  are  alone  visible.  Companies  of 
miners  station  themselves  in  a  camp  on  the  bluff,  and, 
after  putting  the  sand  in  rawhide  sacks,  it  is  carried 
to  the  place  of  washing  on  the  backs  of  mules.  (Hit- 
tell's  California,  p.  317.) 

Placer-Mining. — This  was  the  first  method  of 
mining  adopted,  as  being  the  most  simple  and  inex- 
pensive. Water  was  used  to  separate  the  particles 
of  gold  from  the  alluvial  soil  in  which  they  were 
originally  washed  down  from  the  mountains,  and  de- 
rived from  the  disintegrated  rocks,  known  as  gold- 
bearing  quartz.  The  abundance  of  water  coming 
from  the  Nevadas  is  of  untold  advantage  to  the  Cali- 
fornia placer-miner,  compared  with  the  difficulties 
experienced  by  the  same  class  in  Australia,  where 
the  "  diggings  "  are  much  deeper,  and  the  gold  un- 
evenly distributed  or  "  spotted  "  as  the  miners  say, 
while  the  water  is  quite  scanty.  The  abundance  of 
water  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  second  method  of 
mining,  the  hydraulic,  in  which  water  is  brought  in 
tubes  or  hose  of  immense  size  and  strength,  and 
poured  with  tremendous  force  against  the  side-hill 
or  gravel  in  which  grains  of  gold  are  hidden.  The 


Quartz- Mining.  1 69 

water,  thus  violently  driven,  soon  moistens  the  soil 
and  washes  it  down,  meanwhile  liberating  the  gold, 
which  of  its  own  greater  weight  sinks  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sluices,  that  are  so  fitted  as  to  collect  it,  while 
carrying  away  the  earthy  matter.  This  method  of 
mining  is  available  where  there  is  a  sufficiency  of 
water 

Quartz-Mining. — When  the  placers  were  about 
exhausted,  and  the  hydraulic  process  did  not  give 
full  satisfaction,  capitalists  entered  upon  the  business 
of  mining  ;  but  they  sought  the  gold-bearing  quartz 
in  its  home  in  the  mountains,  and  thus  the  mining  in- 
dustry gradually  became  systematized.  Now  com- 
menced the  labor  of  obtaining  the  gold-bearing 
quartz  from  the  vein  by  drilling  and  blasting  amid 
the  ledges  and  walls  of  hard  rock.  This  quartz 
when  conveyed  to  the  mills  is  subjected  to  a  tremen- 
dous pounding  by  stamps,  and  it  is  thus  crushed  and 
reduced  to  powder.  The  powdered  mass  is  also 
subjected  to  washings  in  sluices,  and,  while  the 
lighter  particles  of  the  quartz  are  carried  away  by 
the  current,  the  gold  sinks,  and  is  caught  in  recep- 
tacles designed  for  the  purpose.  Then  quicksilver  or 
mercury  is  mixed  with  this  prepared  mass,  and,  hav- 
ing a  strong  affinity  for  gold,  speedily  attracts  it  to 
itself ;  again  water  is  used,  and  the  remaining  earthy 
matter  carried  off.  In  order  once  for  all  to  free  the 
gold,  this  cleaner  mass  is  put  into  a  retort,  and  suf- 
ficient heat  applied  ;  the  quicksilver,  rising  in  fumes, 
passes  through  a  tube  into  a  chamber  where  it  is 


1 70  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

condensed  and  caught  in  vessels,  and  is  ready  to  be 
used  again,  while  the  now  pure  gold  is  left  within 
the  retort. 

The  Outlook. — The  system  here  described  of 
reducing  the  golden  ore  has  become  an  important  in- 
dustry of  the  Nation.  The  veins  or  fissures  of  gold- 
bearing  quartz  pervade  the  west  slope  of  the  Neva- 
das  to  such  an  extent  that  we  should  be  inclined  to 
limit  it  only  by  the  size  of  the  mountains  themselves. 
From  year  to  year  fresh  mines  are  discovered,  and 
old  ones  worked  deeper  and  deeper,  and  the  expense 
is  increased  in  proportion ;  but  that  is  compensated 
by  the  greater  scientific  skill  acquired  by  those  oper- 
ating the  mines  and  the  mills.  We  can  not  go  fur- 
ther into  detail,  in  respect  to  the  numerous  mining 
districts  extending  along  the  entire  western  slope  of 
the  Nevadas,  as  they  are  very  similar  in  character. 
They  all  appear  to  be  sufficiently  rich  to  remunerate 
the  miners  employed  and  the  capitalists  therein  en- 
gaged, and  yet  it  is  evident  that  a  dollar  earned  in 
the  gold  regions  costs  as  much  exertion  as  it  does  in 
the  ordinary  forms  of  industry. 

Idaho  Gold-Field. — We  now  come  to  the  west 
slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  commence  with 
Idaho.  The  Governor  of  this  Territory,  in  his  re- 
port (1885)  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  states 
that  there  are  within  it  200  mines  paying  dividends. 
The  placer-mines  on  the  Shoshonee  (vulgarly,  Snake) 
River,  are  rich  and  large  in  extent,  but  not  half  their 
richness  has  been  told  or  published  to  the  world. 


Idaho  Gold-Field.  171 

The  gold  is  found  in  the  gold  bars  or  black  sands  of 
the  river.  It  is  quite  difficult  to  separate  the  gold 
from  these  sands  by  washing,  though  many  parties 
make  the  operations  pay  largely.  These  placer-mines 
only  indicate  what  will  no  doubt  be  in  time  the  gold- 
bearing  quartz  in  the  mountain  ledges,  the  original 
sources  of  these  particles  of  gold  thus  freed  from 
the  disintegrated  rock.  The  presumption  is,  that 
Idaho  will  yet  become  a  great  mining  State,  when 
the  industry  is  more  fully  introduced.  The  mineral 
resources  of  the  Territory  constitute  one  of  its  great- 
est interests,  and,  as  far  as  the  gold  and  silver  lodes 
have  been  worked,  the  mining  industries  are  in  a 
very  prosperous  condition. 

Rich  gold-mines  are  in  the  vicinity  of  Boise  City, 
while  the  Cceur  d'Alene  region  has  numerous  re- 
markably rich  placer-mines.  The  great  Salmon 
River  basin  has  also  a  large  and  productive  gold- 
field,  and  the  Wood  River  belt  of  gold  and  silver 
districts  extend  for  sixty  miles  along  the  streams. 
There  are  from  time  to  time  new  discoveries  made 
and  new  mines  opened,  and  the  product  of  gold 
alone  was  annually  about  eighty  dollars  to  every 
inhabitant  of  the  Territory — men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. Placer-mines  are  in  great  numbers  all  along 
the  valleys  of  the  rivers. 

Montana  Gold-Field. — Montana  is  said  to  be 
third  only  to  California  in  the  production  of  gold, 
while  Colorado  is  the  second.  The  mountains  seem 
to  be  weather-worn  or  abraded  by  storms,  and,  what 


172   Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

is  unusual,  have  beds  of  gravel  within  which  are 
placer-mines  of  gold — that  is,  on  the  mountain-tops, 
instead  of  being  in  the  valleys,  as  in  California  or 
the  foot-hills  of  the  Nevadas.  "  Veins  of  gold  and 
silver  and  copper,  and  lead,  have  been  found  in 
great  numbers  in  nearly  all  the  explored  mountain- 
ous portions  of  the  Territory,  and  placer  gold  widely 
distributed."  (Prof.  G.  C.  Swallows  Report^ 

Oregon  and  Washington  Gold. — Gold  occurs  in 
a  number  of  counties  in  this  State,  and  has  been 
mined  since  1851.  In  the  eastern  portion,  on  the 
borders  of  Idaho,  a  series  of  mines  extends  nearly 
across  the  State.  These  ledges  of  gold  and  silver 
appear  to  belong  to  the  same  general  field  as  that 
of  Idaho.  Baker  City,  on  a  tributary  of  the  Sho- 
shone  or  Snake  River,  is  virtually  the  center  of  the 
gold-mining  industry  in  that  eastern  section,  com- 
prising the  counties  of  Baker,  Grant,  and  Union,  as 
the  mines  are  within  a  radius  of  sixty  miles  of  that 
city.  A  gold  belt  extends  also  across  from  North- 
western California  into  Southwestern  Oregon ;  with- 
in this  range  are  a  number  of  mines  opened  and 
operated. 

According  to  the  Governor's  report  (1886),  val- 
uable mines  of  gold  and  silver  are  known  to  exist 
in  Washington  Territory. 

Wyoming  Gold-Field.— This  Territory  has  its 
great  mineral  wealth  in  coal  rather  than  in  gold 
and  silver  (p.  87),  yet  she  has  numerous  deposits  of 
gold  in  the  usual  forms  of  placer  and  gulch  mines, 


Wyoming  Gold-Field.  173 

and  no  doubt  her  mountains,  when  more  fully  ex- 
plored, will  furnish  lodes  of  gold-bearing  quartz. 
Gold  was  discovered  in  1867  in  the  southwestern 
portion  of  the  Territory,  and  thither  flocked  great 
numbers  of  miners,  who  established  camps  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  famous  South  Pass.  A  number  of 
these  grew  into  towns,  sucji  as  Lewiston,  Atlantic 
City,  South  Pass  City,  and  others ;  around  nearly 
all  are  prosperous  settlements.  Ere  long  the  min- 
ing of  the  lodes  or  fissure  veins  amid  the  granite 
was  introduced  and  crushing-mills  erected.  Numer- 
ous mines  have  been  opened  on  Seminoe  Mountain 
belonging  to  the  Sweetwater  Range ;  this  is  at  an 
elevation  of  10,000  feet  above  the  ocean.  On  the 
eastern  slope  of  these  mountains  are  a  number  of 
gold-mines,  which  are  pronounced  by  Prof.  Aughey, 
Territorial  geologist,  to  be  of  a  high  grade ;  there 
are  also  many  indications  on  the  mountain  of  lodes 
or  veins  of  gold-bearing  quartz.  In  the  product  of 
gold  these  quartz-rocks  vary  from  ten  up  to  sixty 
dollars  a  ton.  Wyoming  has  great  facilities  in 
operating  stamp-mills,  as  she  has  an  abundance  of 
coal  within  reach,  and  of  easy  transportation.  In 
the  Black  Hills,  one  third  of  which  lie  in  the  north- 
east of  the  Territory,  is  also  found  gold  which  has 
been  obtained  thus  far  only  by  gulch-mining.  The 
gold  is  more  abundant  than  silver ;  yet  in  the  Hills 
it  is  often  found  in  connection  with  both  silver  and 
copper. 

Utah  and  Colorado  Gold. — Utah  has  a  remark- 


1 74  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

able  mining  area  of  different  metals — gold,  silver, 
and  lead — that  is  almost  coextensive  with  the  great 
number  of  the  mountains  of  the  Territory.  In 
nearly  all  the  counties,  mines  of  gold  have  been 
opened  and  operated  more  or  less;  the  placer-dig- 
gings have  been  in  the  main  exhausted,  but  they 
were  so  carelessly  worked  that,  it  is  said,  for  the 
most  part,  it  will  pay  to  work  them  over  again. 
The  lodes  of  the  gold-bearing  quartz,  however,  still 
remain  in  the  mountains,  and  the  gold  waiting  to 
be  extracted  by  means  of  more  scientific  methods. 
The  gold  production  of  the  Territory  is  worth 
only  about  one  fourth  part  that  of  the  silver.  The 
latter  metal  is  found  in  combination  with  lead  in 
a  manner  similar  to  that  in  which  it  occurs  in 
the  famous  Leadville  mines  in  Colorado;  hence 
the  output  of  lead  in  Utah  is  quite  large,  some- 
times amounting  annually  to  more  than  twenty 
tons.  Colorado  and  Utah  being  adjacent,  partake 
of  similar  characteristics  in  their  mineral  wealth, 
and,  though  Colorado  is  second  to  California  in  the 
production  of  gold,  yet  her  annual  output  of  silver 
is  about  five  times  the  value  of  her  gold. 

Arizona  and  New  Mexico  Gold, — In  these  Ter- 
ritories gold  is  distributed  in  very  numerous  places, 
and  there  is  evidence  that  many  of  the  placer-dig- 
gings were  worked,  as  well  as  some  deep  mining, 
ages  ago  by  the  Spaniards,  who  in  some  instances 
appear  to  have  held  the  Indians  as  slaves,  and  com- 
pelled them  to  labor  in  the  mines.  The  placers  in 


Alaska  Gold.  175 

some  places  were  no  doubt  rich ;  but  the  skill  of 
the  Spaniards  of  that  age  did  not  rise  above  the 
crudest  form  of  mining.  As  yet  there  has  not  been 
very  extensively  introduced  mining  by  scientific 
methods ;  these  two  Territories  are  richly  endowed 
with  the  precious  metals — more  of  silver  than  of 
gold — as  well  as  with  the  inferior  and  more  useful. 
Alaska  Gold. — This  Territory  was  purchased  in 
1867  from  Russia,  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, for  the  sum  of  $7,200,000.  Its  gold-mines 
have  attracted  attention,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
placer-mining  has  been  carried  on  along  the  valley 
of  the  Stikine  River,  and  with  profit.  A  number  of 
gold-bearing  quartz-lodes  have  been  found  on  Ba- 
ranoff  Island,  in  the  vicinity  of  Sitka,  the  capital  of 
the  Territory.  An  extensive  mill  and  works  have 
been  established  on  the  island  to  crush  the  quartz 
from  these  lodes ;  the  mill  when  in  operation  runs 
one  hundred  and  twenty  stamps  and  has  forty-eight 
concentrators.  The  amount  of  quartz  crushed  daily 
is  about  three  hundred  tons,  and  it  assays  from  eight 
to  twenty  dollars  a  ton.  Gold  is  known  to  exist 
in  the  Coast  Mountains  and  on  some  of  the  islands 
— as  on  Douglas  Island — having  the  same  geologi- 
cal formation  as  that  of  the  mainland ;  and  also, 
in  a  number  of  places  in  the  interior,  as  reported 
by  Lieutenant  Stoney,  of  the  United  States  Army, 
who  has  been  conducting  explorations  within  the 
Territory.  (Governor  s  Report,  1885) 


XVIII. 

SILVER. 

SILVER  is  found  more  than  any  other  metal  in 
combinations  with  different  substances,  as  sulphu- 
rets  or  oxides,  etc.,  and  with  other  minerals ;  it  also 
occurs  in  several  geological  formations,  that  are 
far  separated  in  age  and  in  location :  hence  it  ap- 
pears to  be  universally  diffused.  Metallurgists  have 
proved  by  experiment  that,  of  all  the  numerous  ores 
found  in  Nature,  only  one  in  seventeen  is  free  from 
the  presence  of  silver.  Minute  traces  of  it  even 
exist  in  the  waters  of  the  ocean  and  in  organic 
substances.  It  is  often  found  more  in  connection 
with  gold  and  lead,  especially  with  the  latter,  than 
with  other  metals,  and,  from  its  combination  with 
these  two,  we  have  generally  derived  our  silver. 
The  affinity  of  silver  is  so  strong  for  other  sub- 
stances that  it  becomes  difficult  to  treat  of  it  sepa- 
rately from  these  alliances.  Its  ores  likewise  are 
frequently  imbedded  in  fissures  or  cracks  of  the 
oldest  rocks ;  and  the  veins  within  these  fissures 
have  often  been  worked  to  great  depths,  but  with- 
out the  richness  of  the  ore  diminishing.  The  main 


Nevada  Silver.  177 

source  whence  silver  has  been  derived,  for  two  hun- 
dred years  after  its  discovery,  was  Mexico  and  South 
America,  and  its  passing  into  trade  as  a  medium  of 
exchange  influenced  the  industries  and  commerce  of 
the  civilized  world,  as  in  more  recent  times  the 
influx  of  gold  from  California  produced  a  similar 
effect. 

Nevada  Silver. — On  the  western  slope  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada  we  have  seen  immense  gold  de- 
posits, either  as  placer  or  as  gold-bearing  quartz, 
and  now  nearly  opposite  the  center  of  this  gold- 
field  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  same  mountains, 
and  on  the  west  side  of  the  Great  Basin,  we  have 
correspondingly  large  and  numerous  deposits  of 
silver-ore.  Until  these  were  discovered,  it  was 
thought  that  silver,  except  in  small  quantities  in 
combination  with  the  ores  of  other  metals,  as  lead 
or  copper,  or  as  we  have  seen  in  connection  with 
gold,  was  nowhere  in  existence  within  the  United 
States.  But  here,  contrary  to  precedent  and  anal- 
ogy, were  immense  ore  deposits  in  which  silver 
itself  predominated. 

The  Comstock  Lode. — The  center  of  this  mining 
district — the  Washoe — is  Virginia  City,  which  is 
perched  on  a  rocky  shelf  on  the  eastern  face  of 
Mount  Davidson,  more  than  6,000  feet  above  the 
ocean,  the  mountain  itself  rising  2,000  feet  higher. 
On  this  spot,  in  1860,  stood  a  single  log-hut.  The 
year  previous  two  prospectors  for  gold — named 
Comstock  and  Jenrod — near  the  shelf  discovered  ac- 
13 


178  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

cidentally  what  to  them  seemed  a  "  vein  of  dark  ore  " 
of  some  kind.  Not  knowing  its  character,  they  sent 
a  specimen  to  San  Francisco  for  assay.  It  was  ascer- 
tained to  be  very  rich  silver-bearing  quartz.  This 
deposit  of  silver-ore  proved  the  richest  in  that 
region.  The  fact  becoming  known,  miners  flocked 
thither  in  multitudes,  and  soon  the  whole  mountain 
was  marked  out  in  "  claims  " ;  and  the  largest  vein 
was  called  the  Comstock,  in  honor  of  the  discoverer. 
Ere  long,  nearly  one  hundred  companies  were  oper- 
ating these  claims.  The  latter  varied  from  25  feet 
to  200 — each  company  being  entitled  to  the  whole 
depth  and  width  of  the  vein  or  lode,  whatever  that 
might  be. 

Owing  to  the  very  great  inclination,  almost  per- 
pendicular, of  the  dip  of  the  ore  amid  the  hard  rocks, 
the  labor  of  working  the  lodes  is  much  increased, 
and  the  expense  correspondingly  great.  These 
mines  produce  gold  as  well  as  silver,  but  a  greater 
proportion  of  the  latter.  The  Comstock  lode  has 
been  the  most  productive,  not  only  because  of  its 
richness,  but  also  because  of  the  numerous  com- 
panies engaged  in  working  it.  The  veins  of  silver- 
bearing  quartz  run  along  the  eastern  slope  of  Mount 
Davidson  in  parallel  belts,  nearly  1,000  feet  long,  and 
they  have  been  explored  nearly  four  miles  in  differ- 
ent directions,  by  the  underground  workings,  and, 
as  the  veins  run  down,  they  can  in  some  cases  be 
reached  by  horizontal  openings  in  the  side  of  the 
mountain.  Within  the  subterranean  region  at  one 


Liberal  Mining  Laws.  179 

time  there  was  no  intermission  of  labor,  that  being- 
kept  continuous  by  relays  of  miners  :  here  was  no  Sab- 
bath, no  winter,  no  summer;  thousands  of  burners 
made  it  as  light  as  day,  while  there  was  scarcely  any 
variation  in  the  temperature.  As  proof  of  the  energy 
displayed,  these  mines  have  produced  in  twenty-five 
years  about  $300,000,000  in  gold  and  silver  bullion. 

Sutro  Tunnel. — Owing  to  the  downward  direc- 
tion of  the  veins  of  ore,  the  workings  of  the  Corn- 
stock  mines  soon  became  very  deep,  and  only  at 
great  expense  could  they  be  ventilated  or  freed 
from  water,  and  the  ore  raised  to  the  surface.  To 
obviate  these  rapidly  increasing  difficulties,  the  "  Su- 
tro Tunnel  " — named  from  the  projector — was  de- 
signed to  drain  and  ventilate  the  several  mines  and 
take  the  ore  out  on  a  level.  This  tunnel  is  fourteen 
feet  wide  and  twelve  feet  high,  with  a  double-track 
tramway  by  which  the  ore  is  taken  out,  and  drains 
on  either  side  draw  off  the  water,  while  the  mines 
are  also  kept  cool  and  ventilated.  It  enters  the 
mountain  about  2,000  feet  below  Virginia  City,  and 
is  nearly  five  miles  long,  and  from  it  extend  galleries 
in  every  direction  in  which  the  lodes  or  veins  lead. 
There  are  many  other  localities,  such  as  Eureka, 
where  lodes  are  worked.  Nevada,  on  an  average, 
produces  three  times  as  much  silver  as  gold. 

Liberal  Mining  Laws. — The  mining  laws  of  the 
National  Government  are  very  liberal  to  the  miner, 
as  it  looks  upon  him  as  a  poor  man  ;  these  laws  are  not 
strictly  just  to  the  Nation  itself,  the  latter  being  the 


180  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

real  owner  of  the  public  lands.  These  laws  permit 
the  miners  to  go  upon  the  public  domain  and  with- 
out restriction  to  work  the  mines,  the  Government 
not  demanding  a  royalty  or  percentage  on  the  min- 
erals thus  obtained,  as  is  customary  with  other  gov- 
ernments. The  miner  marks  out  his  claim,  and  it  is 
protected  for  him  by  the  law.  This  is  a  counterpart 
of  the  still  more  benevolent  and  humane  homestead 
law,  so  comprehensive  in  its  beneficial  effects  upon 
the  people  at  large,  as  it  applies  especially  to  the 
family  and  all  its  members. 

Leadville  Silver-Mines. — In  the  mining  districts 
of  the  State  of  Nevada  we  have  silver  in  abundance, 
but  in  combination  with  gold.  We  now  pass  directly 
east  for  753  miles  to  Leadville,  in  the  State  of  Colo- 
rado, in  the  vicinity  of  which  place  we  find  silver, 
but  in  combination  with  lead.  The  former  mines 
are  on  the  east  slope  of  the  Nevadas,  and  the  latter 
amid  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  characteristics  of 
the  lodes  or  veins  are  distinctive :  in  the  former 
they  are  almost  perpendicular,  running  down  toward 
the  base  of  the  mountain ;  in  the  latter  the  mineral 
deposits  of  lead  and  silver  lie  comparatively  horizon- 
tal. In  consequence  of  this  difference,  the  mining 
operations  in  the  former,  as  we  have  seen,  are  very 
expensive,  while  in  the  latter  the  cost  is  much  less. 
In  Colorado  more  mines,  in  proportion,  have  been 
opened  by  individuals,  and  by  companies  having 
comparatively  small  capital,  than  in  the  mines  in  Ne- 
vada. The  great  production  of  silver  in  the  United 


Arizona  and  New  Mexico  Silver.       181 

States,  within  recent  years,  has  been  principally  de- 
1  rived  from  these  two  mining  regions,  nearly  800 
miles  part — the  one  on  the  east  slopes  of  the  Nevadas, 
the  other  amid  the  Rockies.  The  Director  of  the 
Mint  estimated  the  production  in  the  United  States 
of  the  precious  metals,  in  1885,  to  be  of  gold,  $31,- 
801,000,  and  of  silver  $51, $00,000.  It  may  be  noted 
that  a  large  amount  of  gold  and  silver  bullion,  mined 
by  individuals,  does  not  reach  the  Mint,  but  is  dis- 
tributed in  various  ways  for  ornamentation  or  in  the 
arts. 

Arizona  and  New  Mexico  Silver. — These  two 
Territories  have  the  reputation  of  possessing  an  un- 
usual share  of  barren  lands,  and  of  regions  destitute 
of  useful  vegetation ;  but  to-day  the  indications  are 
that  these  disadvantages  are  compensated  to  the  peo- 
ple by  means  of  the  vast  amount  of  mineral  wealth 
existing  within  their  rough  mountains  and  in  the  soil 
of  their  sterile  plains.  In  these  two  Territories  silver 
appears  to  be  found  in  combination  with  gold,  cop- 
per, and  lead.  In  other  places,  the  process  of  ob- 
taining silver  is  incidental,  rather  than  otherwise,  to 
the  mining  of  the  metal,  with  which  it  happens  to  be 
combined ;  but  in  two  instances,  at  least,  in  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico,  silver  predominates  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  it  is  mined  directly  for  itself. 

About  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  advent- 
urous priests  brought  to  Mexico  rumors  of  the 
marvelous  wealth  of  native  silver  that  existed  in 
the  now  Arizona  Mountains.  They  said  it  was  found 


182  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

in  great  masses,  weighing  hundreds  of  pounds. 
These  reports  induced  multitudes  of  Spanish  min- 
ers to  flock  to  these  regions ;  but,  after  more  than 
three  fourths  of  a  century,  the  Indians,  whom  they 
had  forced  to  work  in  the  mines,  rose  in  rebell- 
ion and  drove  off  the  intruders,  priests  and  all.  The 
remnants  of  tunnels  and  shafts  in  many  places  show 
where  these  pioneer  miners  of  the  white  race  once 
worked ;  these  remains  are  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
"  Old  Missions,"  now  in  ruins,  and  here  also  are  seen 
the  slag  and  the  debris  of  their  crude  furnaces.  Not- 
withstanding these  drawbacks,  the  richness  of  the 
ore  must  have  made  them  quite  successful.  When 
Arizona  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  United 
States  (1848),  not  a  single  mine  was  in  operation 
within  that  region ;  they  had  all  been  abandoned  for 
nearly  a  third  of  a  century,  and  the  irrepressible 
Apache  roamed  over  its  plains  and  mountains  un- 
molested. 

Old  Mines  reopened. — Rumors  concerning  the 
"  Mission  "  mines  induced  American  miners  to  pros- 
pect the  southern  portion  of  Arizona,  and  they 
revealed  to  the  world  the  immense  measures,  espe- 
cially of  silver,  that  were  stored  in  the  "  land  of  sun- 
shine." In  the  region  south  of  Tucson,  amid  the 
Santa  Rita  Mountains,  were  found  the  relics  of  the 
old  mines  ;  these  were  soon  reopened  and  worked 
with  success.  Meanwhile,  discoveries  were  made 
of  numerous  rich  deposits  of  silver  combined  with 
other  metals,  but  frequently  in  an  almost  pure  state. 


Tombstone.  183 

The  headquarters  of  these  active  mining  operations 
were  at  Tubac  ;  but  reduction-buildings  were  put  up 
in  many  other  places,  the  latter  becoming  centers  of 
their  respective  districts.  "  The  ores  were  exceed- 
ingly rich  and  easily  reduced,"  and  the  work  of  de- 
velopment went  steadily  on,  though  the  miners  were 
constantly  harassed  by  the  -hostile  Apaches.  In  the 
northern  portion  of  the  Territory,  in  Yavapai  and 
Mohave  Counties,  have  been  discovered  ledges  in 
which  are  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  while  rich  placer 
deposits  prevail  extensively  over  that  region,  making 
it  a  very  valuable  mining  section.  These  deposits 
are  south  and  east  of  the  Colorado,  and  on  tribu- 
taries of  that  river. 

Tombstone. — A  brief  notice  of  Arizona's  richest 
mining  town  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader. 
It  was  inferred  from  vague  rumors  that  rich  depos- 
its of  silver  existed  amid  the  western  foot-hills  of  the 
Dragoon  Mountains,  which  stand  in  a  southeast  di- 
rection from  Tucson,  in  what  is  now  Cochise  County  ; 
but  that  entire  region  was  a  favorite  resort  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  Apache  Indians,  under  the  leadership  of  a 
noted  chief  (Cochise),  who  killed  every  prospector 
he  discovered  within  his  domain.  Cochise  had  his 
main  fortress  in  these  mountains,  and  his  faithful 
lookouts  on  their  crags. 

Mr.  A.  E.  Shiefflin  was  a  persevering  prospector, 
and  withal  very  bold,  prudent,  and  determined.  He 
resolved  to  penetrate  the  mystery,  and  "  prospect " 
that  region  ;  his  friends  endeavored  to  dissuade  him, 


184  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

prophesying  that  he  would  find  nothing  more  than 
his  tombstone.  But  undaunted,  he  set  out,  and,  avoid- 
ing the  hostile  chief,  cautiously  explored  the  region, 
and  some  six  weeks  later  he  returned  (February, 
1878),  and  announced  that  he  had  discovered  the  sil- 
ver deposits,  which  have  since  become  so  famous 
under  the  name  of  TOMBSTONE,  which  name  Shiefflin 
gave  to  the  district  or  camp  that  has  since  grown 
into  a  mining  town.  The  news  of  this  grand  discov- 
ery spread  far  and  wide,  and  the  miners,  ever  rest- 
less, regardless  of  the  hostility  of  Cochise,  flocked 
to  Tombstone,  coming  in  numbers  from  the  Pacific 
coast,  from  the  East,  and  from  other  mining  camps. 
The  high  grade  of  the  ores,  the  immense  deposits, 
the  easy  mining  and  comparatively  small  expense  of 
reducing  the  ores,  invited  capital,  and  the  great  yield 
of  bullion  made  Tombstone  famous  as  the  leading 
mining  town  of  Arizona.  Reduction- works  and 
stamp-mills  soon  sprang  into  existence,  with  every 
appliance  for  obtaining  the  silver.  The  ore  was  first 
taken  out  almost  as  from  a  simple  quarry  ;  but  the 
lodes  or  veins  extend  downward,  and  to  follow  them 
shafts  have  been  introduced.  The  mineral  belt  of 
Tombstone  extends  about  eight  miles  east  and  west, 
and  toward  the  south  about  twenty-five,  having  an 
area  of  nearly  200  square  miles.  Upon  the  whole, 
Arizona  appears  to  be  pervaded  to  a  very  great  ex- 
tent by  rich  deposits  of  minerals  of  almost  every 
kind. 

Lake  Valley. — In  an  easterly  direction,  and  dis- 


Lake   Valley  Silver.  185 

tant  about  200  miles  from  Tombstone,  is  another 
remarkable  deposit  of  silver-ore.  It  is  located  in 
Sierra  County,  Southwestern  New  Mexico,  in  the 
Lake  Valley  mineral  district.  The  amount  of  mineral 
wealth  in  this  region  would  appear  incredible  if  the 
statements  made  in  respect  to  it  were  not  authenti- 
cated by  gentlemen  whose  judgment  and  experience 
command  respect.  The  ores  found  are  of  different 
degrees  of  richness,  so  that  here  "  ores  that  run  from 
$200  to  $300  to  the  ton  are  classed  as  of  low  grade." 
In  a  paper  prepared  on  this  subject  by  S.  H.  New- 
man, Esq.,  this  assertion  is  made :  "  We  believe  we 
saw  in  the  mines  not  less  than  $15,000,000  worth  of 
ore."  This  statement  Mr.  William  G.  Ritch,  author 
of  "  New  Mexico  Illustrated"  (pp.  42,  211),  verifies. 
The  ore  crops  above-ground  and  continues  for  a 
depth  of  fifty  feet,  and  along  the  hill-side  for  a  dis- 
tance of  about  two  fifths  of  a  mile.  The  veins  run 
downward,  and  shafts  have  been  introduced,  the  ex- 
cavations extending  under  a  ledge  of  limestone  some 
six  feet  in  thickness ;  the  latter,  supported  by  timber, 
serves  as  a  roof.  Here  are  masses  of  silver-ore  piled 
one  upon  another,  as  if  forced  into  their  position  by 
some  internal  convulsion.  The  ore  is  of  different 
shades  of  color,  as  shown  by  torchlight:  sometimes 
the  rock  is  dark,  like  the  slag  from  an  iron-furnace ; 
then  often  of  a  reddish  cast,  and  again  similar  in  ap- 
pearance to  an  amalgam  of  quicksilver ;  in  another 
place  "  the  ore  hangs  in  beautiful,  glistening,  soft 
chloride  crystals  which  feel  damp  in  the  hand,  and 


1 86  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

when  compressed  yield  to  the  pressure  and  assume 
the  shape  of  the  closed  palm,  like  dough."  The  lat- 
ter is  easily  smelted,  "  the  flame  of  the  candle  send- 
ing the  virgin  silver  dripping  down  the  wall  like 
shot.  .  .  .  These  chlorides  run  about  $27,000  to  the 
ton."  One  lump  of  ore,  a  cube  about  three  feet 
square,  and  valued  by  experts  at  $7,000,  was  taken 
from  this  mine  and  exhibited  at  the  general  exposi- 
tion of  the  mineral  products  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
States  and  Territories,  held  at  Denver  in  1883. 

Other  Mines  of  Silver-Ore. — The  deposits  of  sil- 
ver in  New  Mexico  are  by  no  means  limited  to  the 
Lake  Valley  district,  as  there  are  numbers  of  such  in 
the  region  round  about.  They  are  all  in  the  valley 
of  the  Rio  Grande.  This  mineral  belt  extends 
around  for  a  number  of  miles,  and  the  presumption 
is  that,  especially  toward  the  north  portion  of  the 
Territory,  there  are  other  deposits  of  silver-ore 
equally  rich,  that  will  in  turn  be  discovered.  The 
indications  are,  also,  that  all  the  valleys  between, 
and  the  foot-hills  of  the  subordinate  ranges  of  mount- 
ains in  the  western  part  of  New  Mexico,  and  the 
bordering  eastern  portion  of  Arizona,  are  permeated 
more  or  less  with  lodes  or  veins  of  minerals,  forming 
a  sort  of  network  in  both  Territories,  and  that  some 
districts  hitherto  deemed  barren  wastes  are  found  to 
be  rich  in  minerals ;  while,  as  we  shall  see,  there  is 
much  more  land  in  these  two  Territories  capable  of 
being  utilized  for  crops  of  various  kinds,  and  for 
stock-raising,  than  has  been  generally  supposed. 


Utah  Silver.  187 

Utah  Silver. — Utah  ranked  third  in  the  production 
of  silver  in  1885,  Colorado  and  Montana  being  the 
first  and  second.  (Mineral  Resources  of  U.  S.,  1885,  p. 
201.)  The  mines  of  this  Territory  belong  to  the 
great  silver  field  that  occupies  so  large  a  portion  of 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  Colorado,  but  its  ore  par- 
takes more  of  the  characteristics  of  that  of  the  last, 
inasmuch  as  the  silver  is  found  in  combination  with 
lead,  while  the  great  deposit  in  Nevada  is  in  connec- 
tion with  gold.  The  ores  of  silver  are  scattered 
over  the  Territory,  and  in  consequence  there  is  an 
equal  diffusion  of  mining  establishments,  some  of 
which  are  very  extensive  and  very  perfect  in  their 
appliances  for  obtaining  the  ore  from  the  mines  by 
means  of  shafts,  etc.,  as  well  as  of  smelting  the  ores, 
and  separating  the  lead  from  the  silver.  Mining 
these  metals  has  become  a  prominent  industry  of  the 
Territory. 

Idaho,  Montana,  and  Wyoming  Silver. — We  pass 
now  to  the  north.  In  the  mines  of  Idaho,  silver  is 
found  in  connection  with  gold,  as  in  the  remarkable 
mineral  belt  extending  along  Wood  River  for  sixty 
miles — the  silver  running  from  100  to  350  ounces  to 
the  ton  of  quartz-rock  ore.  The  Sawtooth  and  Lava 
districts  have  extensive  and  rich  silver  deposits,  but 
are  not  yet  fully  developed.  (The  Governor's  Report, 
1885.)  Montana  is,  in  the  production  of  silver,  ac- 
cording to  the  "  United  States  Mineral  Resources  " 
(1885),  second  to  Colorado. 

In  Wyoming  Territory,  gold  is  more  prominent 


1 88  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

than  silver.  In  one  instance,  the  silver  is  in  connec- 
tion with  copper,  while  the  strata  immediately  below 
show  veins  of  native  silver,  and  still  lower  veins  of 
silver  and  gold  combined.  In  the  subordinate  Lara- 
mie  range  of  mountains  is  a  distinctively  copper- 
bearing  region,  its  ores  having  more  or  less  of  silver. 

Pacific  Coast  Silver. — The  "  Mineral  Resources  of 
the  United  States  "  does  not  mention  silver  as  one  of 
the  metals  belonging  to  California,  though  there  may 
be  hidden  deposits.  In  the  eastern  counties  of  Ore- 
gon, silver  is  sometimes  found  in  connection  with 
gold,  and  in  mining  the  latter  it  is  often  obtained, 
but  in  limited  quantities.  The  Governor  of  Wash- 
ington Territory,  in  his  report  (1886),  enumerates  sil- 
ver among  the  valuable  metals  of  the  Territory  ;  but 
we  would  infer  that  it  is  found  incidentally  and  only 
in  small  quantities. 

"  One  third  of  all  the  gold  and  one  half  of  all  the 
silver  annually  produced  in  the  world  are  supplied 
by  the  mines  of  the  United  States."  (Mineral  Re- 
sources  of  U.  S.,  1883,  p. 


XIX. 

QUICKSILVER,   OR  MERCURY. 

WE  have  seen,  in  the  case  of  iron,  how  often, 
near  by  the  deposits  of  its  ore,  were  found  the  coal 
and  limestone  so  essential  in  smelting-  it.  We  now 
notice  an  instance  in  the  economy  of  Nature  similar 
and  equally  striking,  that  of  the  proximity  to  mines 
of  gold  and  silver,  of  cinnabar,  the  ore  from  which 
quicksilver  is  derived.  The  latter  is  as  effective  in 
separating  the  precious  metal  from  the  gold-bearing 
quartz  as  are  the  coal  and  limestone  in  obtaining 
iron  from  the  ore.  Thus,  within  available  distance  of 
the  gold  and  silver  mines  of  California  and  Nevada, 
is  found  cinnabar,  or  the  red  sulphuret  of  mercury, 
stored  away  in  the  strata  of  the  earth,  to  be  utilized 
when  needed. 

New  Almaden. — Inside  the  Coast  Range,  twelve 
or  more  miles  southeast  of  San  Jose",  are  said  to  be  the 
richest  mines  of  cinnabar  in  the  world.  These  are  the 
New  Almaden,  named  from  similar  mines  in  Spain. 
In  the  vicinity  and  State  are  other  deposits,  as  Fresno, 
the  New  Idria — named  from  an  old  mine  in  Austria, 
that  has  been  worked  for  three  hundred  years — 


190  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Napa,  and  others,  but  they  are  all  inferior  in  richness 
when  compared  with  the  first  mentioned.  The  cin- 
nabar at  New  Almaden  is  imbedded  within  walls  of 
flint  and  slaty  rocks ;  it  is  found  in  a  series  of  beds 
and  layers,  so  that  the  workings  are  very  irregular. 
The  masses  of  ore  are  separated  by  strata  of  rock, 
which  are  variable  in  thickness,  while  the  crevices 
between  them  are  often  filled  with  seams  and  bunches 
of  ore.  The  latter,  thus  disconnected,  is  liable,  as 
the  miners  say,  "  to  nip  out,"  and  suddenly  the  mine 
is  found  to  be  exhausted.  In  addition,  when  the  cin- 
nabar is  worked  out  in  one  place,  no  clew  is  given 
by  which  to  find  another.  Nature  seems  in  this  case 
to  have  put  all  rules  and  analogies  at  defiance,  and 
the  mine  found  has  been  stumbled  upon  by  accident. 

The  Operation — how  conducted. — The  veins  of 
ore  run  down  into  the  earth,  and  are  mined  by 
means  of  a  perpendicular  shaft,  several  hundred  feet 
deep.  The  miners  have  followed  the  veins  thousands 
of  feet  by  means  of  galleries  opened  right  and  left 
from  the  shaft  and  from  one  another.  At  first  the 
miners  were  a  motley  company  :  here  were  English 
from  the  copper-mines  in  Cornwall,  Welsh,  Scotch, 
Irish,  and  Mexicans,  the  latter  being  more  skillful 
in  this  kind  of  mining.  The  labor  is  performed  in 
quite  a  primitive  manner :  the  ore  is  brought  up  the 
shaft  in  large  buckets  by  aid  of  the  windlass  ;  in  the 
same  way  the  men  are  passed  down  and  up,  to  and 
from  their  work. 

The  ore  or  cinnabar  is  of  a  reddish  color,  similar 


Quicksilver  Smelting.  191 

to  that  of  ordinary  bricks.  It  is  first  prepared  by 
being  crushed  and  fashioned  into  blocks,  which  are 
arranged  with  spaces  between  them  in  ovens  or 
kilns,  where  they  are  subjected  to  heat  so  intense  as 
to  become  white,  the  flame  passing  between  the 
blocks.  The  heat  first  causes  the  quicksilver  to  ex- 
ude from  the  earthy  matter,  and  then  by  its  intensity 
changes  it  into  the  form  of  vapor,  and  when  in  that 
state  it  is  conducted  by  tubes  into  a  chamber  de- 
signed for  its  reception.  In  the  latter,  when  becom- 
ing cool,  it  condenses  on  the  walls  and  trickles  down 
into  channels  arranged  to  convey  it  to  a  reservoir, 
from  which  the  iron  flasks — glass  could  not  bear  the 
weight — are  filled.  The  quicksilver,  thus  pure,  is 
ready  for  use.  As  water,  when  passing  off  in  vapor, 
leaves  all  the  ingredients  which  it  held  in  solution, 
and  rises  perfectly  pure,  so  quicksilver,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  intense  heat,  rises  in  vapor  and  frees  itself 
from  all  extraneous  matter. 

The  Effects  produced  on  Gold-Mining. — The  dis- 
covery and  successful  working  of  the  New  Almaden 
had  a  great  influence  on  the  mining  industries  of 
the  adjoining  States,  since  quicksilver  is  universally 
used  in  the  extraction  of  both  gold  and  silver  from 
the  ore,  and  also  being  furnished  in  abundance  and 
at  a  cheap  rate.  The  peculiarity  that  quicksilver  has 
of  being  used  over  and  over  again,  in  the  extraction 
of  gold  and  silver,  and  the  comparatively  small 
amount  required  in  the  arts  or  ordinary  industries, 
do  not  demand  that  it  should  be  supplied  in  a  super- 


192  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

abundant  degree ;  its  production  in  Nature  is  quite 
limited.  In  addition  to  California,  it  is  found  only 
in  Spain  and  Austria  in  the  Old  World,  and  in  Peru 
and  Chili  in  the  New. 

The  trade  of  the  world  in  this  metal  is  virtually 
controlled  by  Old  Almaden  in  Spain,  in  connection 
with  New  Almaden  in  California.  Spain  supplies 
Europe  and  partially  Mexico,  and  California  the 
United  States  and  China,  and  also  makes  large  ex- 
ports to  Mexico.  At  one  time  China  was  supplied 
entirely  by  European  dealers  ;  but  New  Almaden, 
having  on  hand  a  large  surplus,  suddenly,  in  1879, 
with  nearly  37,000  flasks,  appeared  in  China  and  over- 
stocked the  market,  and  at  a  much  lower  rate.  The 
dealers,  finding  they  could  not  compete  with  this 
unlooked-for  rival,  packed  up  their  entire  stock  and 
carried  it  back  to  Europe,  and,  as  far  as  known,  have 
never  yet  returned.  In  1885  New  Almaden  pro- 
duced 21,400  flasks,  while  all  the  other  quicksilver- 
mines  of  California  furnished  10,673. 


XX. 

COPPER. 

THIS  metal  has  been  known  to  man  from  re- 
mote ages,  and  was  perhaps  the  first  with  which 
he  became  acquainted.  Copper,  in  some  form,  has 
in  its  use  always  preceded  iron — the  latter  being 
so  much  harder  to  refine,  and  the  only  metal  whose 
pieces  can  be  welded  together ;  but  copper  can  be 
so  heated  as  to  melt  and  become  even  a  fluid.  Tin 
and  zinc  also  can  be  reduced  to  a  fluid  state  by 
heat,  and  the  workman  is  able  to  combine  either 
with  copper,  when  both  are  in  that  condition ;  thus, 
in  combining  in  certain  proportions  with  tin,  he 
produces  bronze,  and  with  zinc  under  similar  con- 
ditions he  produces  brass.  The  ancients  had  means 
— to  us  unknown — of  hardening  bronze  so  as  from 
it  to  make  instruments  with  which  they  could 
cut  granite.  Copper  in  its  different  combinations  is 
coming  more  and  more  into  use  in  diversified  forms, 
as  science  discovers  the  numberless  applications  that 
can  be  made  of  it  in  the  various  industries  of  the 
day.  Copper  when  pure  is  nearly  red  in  color; 
it  is  exceedingly  tough,  and  can  be  drawn  out  in 

wire  or  made  into  sheets. 
14 


194  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

The  Universality  of  Copper.— Copper,  as  found 
in  Nature,  is  diffused  as  much  as  silver,  if  not  more, 
and  its  natural  combinations  are  nearly  as  numer- 
ous. It  exists  in  many  soils,  in  sea-water,  and  is 
traced  in  plants  and  animals.  With  the  exception 
of  gold,  copper  is  found  in  a  pure  state  more  than 
any  other  metal;  and  nowhere  do  such  immense 
masses  of  pure  copper  exist  as  in  the  United  States, 
it  being  found  in  twenty-one  States  and  Territories. 
When  pure,  it  is  also  found  in  small  lumps — but  in 
a  crystallized  state,  the  usual  form  being  octahedral, 
or  eight-sided.  The  ores  of  copper  are  usually  very 
beautiful,  having  different  shades  of  color,  and  each 
one  brilliant,  as  red,  blue,  green,  etc.  Its  natural 
combinations  with  other  substances  in  the  form  of 
ore  are  so  numerous  and  so  diversified,  that  to  go 
into  detail  would  be  out  of  place  in  this  sketch  ;  of 
these  we  therefore  notice  only  one,  that  with  sul- 
phur. The  common  yellow  copper-ore  is  defined  by 
Whitney  as  "  copper  pyrites  [a  sulphuret]  mixed 
with  the  sulphuret  of  iron."  This  is  the  class  of  ore 
which  furnishes  nearly  all  the  copper  that  is  derived 
from  the  mines  of  Cornwall,  England ;  and  indeed, 
by  good  authority,  this  class  is  also  estimated  to 
furnish  two  thirds  of  the  copper  mined  in  the 
world. 

Copper  on  the  Atlantic  Slope. — Copper-ores  are 
found,  but  in  small  deposits,  along  the  Atlantic  slope 
from  Maine  clear  round  to  the  southwest  side  of  the 
Alleghanies  in  East  Tennessee.  These  deposits  are 


Copper  on  the  Atlantic  Slope.  195 

very  similar  in  character ;  they  never  occur  in  what 
geologists  call  transverse  or  fissure  veins,  and  though 
these  limited  masses  of  ore  are  parallel  with  the  for- 
mation, geologically  speaking,  the  veins  lie  separate 
from  one  another.  The  ores  thus  situated  are  nearly 
all  the  usual  "  copper  pyrites."  Though  the  locali- 
ties where  copper  is  found  are  numerous,  the  limited 
amount  of  ore  scarcely  remunerated  the  miner,  and 
then  only  when  the  demand  for  domestic  use  was 
great,  and  in  consequence  the  American  people  were 
forced  to  depend  nearly  altogether  upon  the  foreign 
supply.  It  may  be  proper  to  remark  that  copper,  as 
a  natural  resource,  is  to-day  about  exhausted  in  the 
Eastern  portion  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  State  of  Maine  are  a  few  "  quartz-veins  " 
of  copper-ore.  Isolated  mines  having  similar  char- 
acteristics exist  also  in  Franconia,  New  Hampshire, 
but  none  have  been  worked  to  any  extent.  Several 
places  in  Vermont  are  named  as  having  deposits  of 
copper  pyrites ;  and  others  where  is  found  a  "  green 
carbonate  with  particles  of  vitreous  ore  " ;  while,  in 
Massachusetts,  copper-ore  occurs  in  the  vicinity  of 
Northampton,  but  in  small  quantities  and  in  connec- 
tion with  lead.  Connecticut  has,  near  Bristol,  the 
most  extensive  deposit  in  that  section  of  the  country. 
The  ore  at  the  surface  is  mostly  variegated  copper, 
but  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  fissure-vein.  This 
mine  has  paid  the  operators  better  than  any  other 
one  in  New  England,  the  ore  yielding  about  32 
per  cent  of  copper.  The  mine  has  been  opened 


196  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

by  shafts;  but  neither  the  amount  of  ore  nor  its 
richness  has  warranted  extensive  outlay  for  mining 
purposes. 

Copper  has  also  been  discovered  in  a  number  of 
places  in  the  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Pennsylvania,  but  in  such  small  quantities  that  the 
mines  have  long  since  been  virtually  abandoned ; 
likewise  in  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  but 
they  were  never  of  much  value.  These  mines  for  a 
time  furnished  a  limited  amount  of  copper  for  do- 
mestic use. 

North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Georgia  Copper. 
—North  Carolina  has,  apparently,  more  copper-ore 
within  her  boundaries  than  any  State  east  of  the 
Alleghanies.  Dr.  Genth,  mineralist,  says  in  the 
"  Handbook"  of  the  State,  1886:  "Copper-ores  have 
been  found  in  many  localities  throughout  the  State, 
.  .  .  the  principal  ore  being  copper  pyrites  [sul- 
phuret]  ;  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
many  of  the  mines  require  only  a  fuller  development 
to  enable  them  to  furnish  large  quantities  of  valuable 
ore.  .  .  .  Almost  all  the  copper-mines  in  the  central 
counties  of  the  State  have  been  first  worked  for  gold. 
.  .  .  The  general  character  of  these  mines  is  that 
the  so-called  brown  gold-ores  are  replaced  by  quartz 
richly  charged  with  iron  pyrites  [sulphurets],  more  or 
less  mixed  with  copper  pyrites,  the  latter  increasing 
as  the  mine  deepens,  and  in  many  places  becoming 
the  only  or  the  predominating  ore,  and  forming  a 
regular  copper-vein."  These  mines  seem  to  be  held 


Lake  Superior  Copper.  197 

in  reserve  for  the  future,  as  they  are  worked  to  little 
extent  at  present. 

In  Polk  County,  in  the  extreme  southeastern  por- 
tion of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  is  a  district  in  which 
occur  deposits  of  copper-ore,  which,  the  "  Hand- 
book "  of  the  State  says,  "  is  capable  of  being  a  great 
source  of  wealth."  Some  of  the  veins  have  been  ex- 
plored to  a  depth  of  200  feet,  and  give  evidence  that 
they  extend  still  farther.  The  ores  near  the  surface 
are  red  and  black  oxides,  but  at  a  greater  depth 
these  give  place  to  a  sulphuret.  The  greater  facili- 
ties in  obtaining  copper  in  the  Lake  Superior  region 
had  an  influence  in  diminishing  the  mining  opera- 
tions that  once  prevailed  in  this  district.  Copper- 
ores  are  also  found  in  other  places  in  the  vicinity,  all 
of  which  in  due  time  will  be  utilized,  when  they  be- 
come accessible  to  more  efficient  fuel  for  smelting, 
and  also  to  the  markets  of  the  Union. 

Copper-ores  occur,  but  in  limited  quantities,  in 
several  counties  in  the  State  of  Georgia.  These 
veins  in  numerous  places  can  be  traced  for  many 
miles ;  in  one  instance  a  deposit  exists  on  the  top  of 
the  Blue  Ridge  in  Lumpkin  County.  The  outcrop  of 
the  copper  can  be  traced  for  several  miles,  it  follow- 
ing the  northeast-southwest  trend  of  the  mountain. 

Lake  Superior  Copper. — We  come  now  to  the 
great  copper  region  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the 
world,  occupying  a  portion  of  the  south  shore  of 
Lake  Superior,  and  islands  within  the  lake  itself. 
The  mines  are  located  principally  within  the  three 


198  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

counties  of  Keweenaw,  Houghton,  Ontonagon,  and 
the  island  and  county  of  Isle  Royale.  These  de- 
posits of  native  copper  became  known  to  the  civil- 
ized world  through  French  Jesuit  fathers,  in  the 
latter  portion  of  the  seventeenth  century.  They 
explored  the  entire  region  and  made  known  its  min- 
eral wealth,  but  in  somewhat  exaggerated  terms,  as 
future  investigation  proved.  They  proclaimed  that 
there  was  copper,  and  also  gold  and  precious  stones ; 
the  latter  were  simply  agates. 

A  little  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago  copper- 
mining  began  on  the  Ontonagon  River,  about  forty 
miles  from  its  mouth,  in  a  district  full  of  mines  to- 
day ;  here  the  fathers  saw  the  famous  mass — esti- 
mated at  one  hundred  tons — of  native  copper  lying 
on  the  west  branch  of  the  Ontonagon.  About  half  a 
century  later  the  National  Government  sent  army 
officers  to  explore  the  country  round  the  Great 
Lakes ;  though  their  orders  were  only  partially  car- 
ried out,  their  report  revealed  the  fact  that  here 
were  immense  deposits  of  copper  and  of  iron  ores. 

The  Copper-Fever.— When  the  region  around 
Lake  Superior  was  opened  for  settlement  (1844)  by 
act  of  Congress,  intimations  had  already  spread  far 
and  wide  of  the  untold  wealth  of  minerals — of  iron 
and  copper,  especially  the  latter— that  lay  around  the 
shores  of  the  great  lake.  Specimens  of  native  or 
pure  copper  were  exhibited  in  the  Eastern  cities, 
and  the  story  was  told  of  the  great  masses  of  the 
same  that  were  to  be  seen  on  the  surface,  while  the 


Mound- Builders  as  Miners.  199 

veins  of  ore  were  numerous  and  enormous.  Then 
began  what  is  Jknown  as  the  "  copper-fever  of 
1845,"  when  thousands  flocked  to  the  land  of  pro- 
spective wealth,  going  first  to  that  long  and  narrow 
peninsula,  Keweenaw  Point,  the  shores  of  which  were 
whitened  with  the  tents  of  miners  and  speculators. 

An  official  in  a  department  at  Washington  had 
issued  "  permits  "  for  persons  who  wished  "  to  select 
and  locate  on  tracts  of  land  for  mining  purposes." 
There  were  375  such  leases  granted  on  that  slender 
point  alone.  The  selections  were  made  for  the  most 
part  at  random,  the  selector  having  no  knowledge 
whatever  of  mineral  lands — numbers  being  made  on 
rocks  that  were  barren  of  copper  or  of  any  metal. 
Speculation  raged,  and  for  two  years  stocks  in  these 
enterprises  ruled  high.  The  bubble  burst,  and  thou- 
sands were  financially  ruined,  the  climax  coming 
with  a  crash  when  the  issuance  of  "  permits  "  was 
suspended  by  Congress  because  it  was  illegal.  The 
latter  body  ordered  a  thorough  survey  of  the  min- 
eral region,  and  also  published  accurate  and  author- 
ized maps  of  the  entire  districts.  The  basis  being 
changed,  in  a  few  years  mining  of  copper  was  placed 
on  a  safe  foundation,  and  as  such  has  continued  a 
prominent  industry. 

The  Mound- Builders  as  Miners. — Long  ages  ago 
people  of  a  different  race  left  traces  of  their  rude 
mining  operations,  both  on  Keweenaw  Point  and 
along  the  south  shore,  and  on  Isle  Royale,  which  lies 
in  the  lake  some  sixty  or  seventy  miles  directly 


2OO  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

north.  These  ancient  excavations  were  of  various 
depths,  in  one  instance  reaching  fifty  feet  in  the  solid 
rock.  In  one  place  on  the  island  a  series  of  these 
mining-pits  extends  for  nearly  two  miles,  having  an 
average  width  of  400  feet  and  a  depth  of  twenty, 
the  miners  taking  out  of  the  solid  rock  the  belt  of 
copper.  The  tools  of  these  ancient  workmen,  thou- 
sands of  which  they  left  behind,  consisted  of  stone 
hammers,  shaped  somewhat  like  a  modern  axe,  but 
having  round  the  head  quite  a  deep  groove  within 
which,  to  serve  as  a  handle,  the  green  withe  was 
skillfully  wound.  Here  are  also  found  pieces  of 
charred  wood  or  fire-brands,  that  had  resisted  the 
aggressions  of  time,  giving  evidence  that  these 
miners  also  used  heat  in  detaching  the  copper  from 
the  rock — the  latter  probably  becoming  cracked  by 
being  first  subjected  to  heat,  and  then  suddenly 
cooled  by  the  application  of  water. 

The  present  race  of  Indians,  at  the  advent  of  Eu- 
ropeans, had  no  knowledge  of  mining,  nor  had  they 
traditions  of  the  people  who  made  these  excavations. 
The  presumption  is  that  the  latter  were  the  mound- 
builders,  whose  monuments  we  find  on  the  fertile 
plains  in  the  Great  Valley,  and  who  only  visited  these 
regions  in  order  to  obtain  copper.  This  we  infer 
from  the  fact  that  they  left  not  a  vestige  of  a 
dwelling,  a  burial-place,  or  a  skeleton,  and  that  pure 
copper,  either  in  the  form  of  ornaments  or  arrow- 
points,  is  often  found  in  their  mounds.  The  mound- 
builders  were  much  more  civilized  than  the  ances- 


Process  of  Mining.  201 

tors  of  our  Indians,  but  they  were,  no  doubt,  driven 
by  the  latter  savages  from  their  peaceful  homes  and 
forced  to  seek  shelter  in  the  far  South,  where  they 
evidently  became  the  ancestors  of  the  peoples  of 
Mexico,  Central  and  South  America. 

The  Process  of  Mining. — The  mineral  region 
around  Lake  Superior  is  peculiar,  inasmuch  as 
the  copper  is  found  native  or  almost  absolutely  pure, 
instead  of  being  in  the  form  of  ore,  and  thus  requir- 
ing to  be  smelted,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  process 
of  refining  consists  more  in  removing  its  extrane- 
ous surroundings.  In  addition,  the  veins  within  the 
rocks,  that  are  the  most  productive,  carry  exclusively 
native  copper  with  a  small  amount  of  native  silver ; 
and  this  characteristic  continues  at  every  depth  yet 
reached.  "  The  width  of  the  productive  veins  is 
usually  from  one  to  three  feet,  they  sometimes  widen 
out  to  ten  feet  or  even  more,  but  rarely  continue  to 
hold  these  dimensions  for  any  considerable  distance. 
The  wider  the  vein,  as  a  general  rule,  the  richer  is 
its  metallic  contents.  .  .  .  The  copper  is  found  im- 
bedded in  the  vein-stone  in  pieces  of  every  size,  from 
almost  microscopic  particles  up  to  masses  of  one 
to  two  hundred  tons  weight."  (Whitney s  Metallic 
Wealth,  etc.,  pp.  259,  260.) 

When  a  mass  of  copper,  perhaps  of  several  feet 
in  length  and  breadth,  is  met  with  in  the  vein,  the 
adjacent  rock  on  one  side  is  removed  ;  this  leaves 
room  for  the  mass  to  be  shoved,  and  after  other  prep- 
arations heavy  charges  of  gunpowder  are  placed 


202  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

behind  the  mass,  which  when  it  exploded  moves  it 
out  of  place.  Copper  can  not  be  broken  into  frag- 
ments by  any  force  of  explosion  ;  it  only  tears.  The 
block  of  copper  thus  loosened  must  be  divided  into 
pieces  of  a  size  convenient  to  be  brought  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  shaft  and  thence  hoisted  to  the  surface. 
To  make  these  divisions,  hard  steel  chisels  of  differ- 
ent lengths  are  used,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
block  of  copper  to  be  cut ;  to  manage  this  cutting  re- 
quires at  least  two  workmen,  one  to  hold  and  direct 
the  chisel,  the  other  to  drive  it  home  by  the  blows  of 
a  sledge-hammer.  This  process  is  both  laborious 
and  tedious ;  and  in  addition  the  fragments  of  rock 
or  debris  must  be  removed  out  of  the  way,  either  by 
being  carried  to  the  surface  or  transferred  to  a  va- 
cant place,  whence  the  copper  has  been  already 
taken  out.  Copper  is  also  often  found  imbedded  in 
the  vein-stone  in  smaller  pieces  weighing  usually  a 
pound  or  more.  These  pieces,  when  cleaned  of  the 
adhering  rock,  are  put  in  strong  barrels  and  sent  to 
the  surface.  This  class  of  ore  the  miners  designate 
"  barrel-copper." 

The  Two  Mines. — The  veins  of  copper  in  this  re- 
gion are  imbedded  in  the  rock,  and  always  have  a 
dip  or  inclination  usually  about  39°,  and  this  direc- 
tion being  known,  enables  the  miner  by  means  of 
a  perpendicular  shaft  to  strike  the  vein  at  any  point 
he  may  choose.  Frequently  a  number  of  shafts  are 
sunk,  in  order  to  reach  the  same  vein  at  different 
points.  From  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  he  runs  paral- 


The   Two  Famous  Mines.  203 

lels  in  different  directions,  and  by  removing,  as  al- 
ready described,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  adjacent 
rock,  he  is  able  to  take  out  the  copper.  The  mines, 
in  the  main,  are  operated  alike,  and  the  process  in 
one  illustrates  the  whole.  There  are  great  differ- 
ences in  the  richness  of  the  deposits  or  veins,  and 
in  consequence  there  are  often  failures  as  well  as 
successes.  Of  the  latter  class  are  two  remarkable  in- 
stances in  Houghton  County — the  Tamarack  and  the 
Calumet — both  operating  in  different  portions  of  the 
same  vein.  They  are  both  well  equipped,  the  former 
having  a  shaft  of  the  largest  size  ;  "  its  inside  dimen- 
sions being  seventeen  feet  eight  inches  by  seven  feet. 
It  is  divided  into  three  compartments,  two  of  which 
are  used  for  hoisting,  and  the  third  for  pump  and  lad- 
der way.  .  .  .  This  shaft  struck  the  lode  at  a  perpen- 
dicular depth  of  2,260  feet."  These  fully  equipped 
companies  can  bring,  each,  to  the  surface  daily  be- 
tween 2,000  and  3,006  tons  of  rock  from  a  depth  of 
4,500  feet  on  the  vein.  The  Commissioner  on  Miner- 
al Statistics  says  of  these  mines,  in  his  report  for  1884 
(page  67) :  "  A  rough  estimate,  based  on  the  most  con- 
servative data,  makes  the  total  reserves  equal  to 
twenty  years'  work,  at  the  present  rate  of  production 
of  20,000  tons  of  ingot  copper  per  annum.  This  mine 
on  the  lower  levels  is  so  dry  that  the  water  used  in 
the  drilling  operations  is  supplied  from  the  out- 
side." 

Isle   Royale. — Among    the   numerous   islands   in 
the   lake,   one   deserves   a   passing   notice — the  Isle 


204  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Royale.  It  is  forty-five  miles  in  length,  and  on  an 
average  twelve  in  breadth.  It  rises  in  bluffs  some- 
times 300  feet  high  above  the  water,  with  here  and 
there  a  harbor,  a  low  place  or  cut  into  the  cliff.  One 
of  these  inlets,  Rock  Harbor,  is  more  than  ten  miles 
long,  and  only  from  one  quarter  to  one  half  a  mile 
wide.  At  the  entrance  are  a  number  of  beautiful 
small  islands  ;  the  former  is  bordered  on  each  shore 
by  terraces  of  magnificent  evergreens,  so  regular 
and  so  arranged  that  they  seem  to  have  been  planted 
in  parks  by  the  hand  of  man.  This  island  is  exceed- 
ingly rich  in  copper,  found  here  almost  pure,  and 
sometimes  in  masses  containing  hundreds  of  pounds 
up  to  hundreds  of  tons.  A  great  number  of  com- 
panies are  engaged  in  mining  copper  on  the  island ; 
some  of  these  are  very  extensive.  In  the  State  of 
Michigan  there  were  recently  sixty-six  corpora- 
tions engaged  in  mining  copper. 

Wisconsin,  Missouri,  and  Texas  Copper. — Cop- 
per occurs  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  but  not  of  suf- 
ficient richness  and  quantity  to  warrant  mining  it  to 
much  extent.  These  ores  are  found  for  the  most 
part  near  Mineral  Point.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  limited  deposits  of  copper  within  the  State  of 
Missouri,  as  the  ore,  though  it  occurs  in  various 
places,  and  in  connection  with  the  ores  of  other  met- 
als, is  not  sufficient  in  quantity  to  induce  mining 
operations  to  a  very  great  extent. 

The  copper-ores  of  Texas  thus  far  discovered  are 
located  in  three  fields :  The  first,  in  which  the  ores 


Texas  Copper.  205 

are  abundant,  is  in  the  valley  of  the  Colorado,  on 
two  of  its  tributaries,  Llano  and  San  Saba,  and  in 
counties  of  the  same  name.  These  mines  give  evi- 
dence of  having  been  operated  by  the  early  Spanish 
colonists.  The  copper  veins  are  in  connection  with 
granite  and  quartz,  and  are  generally  carbonates, 
but  as  they  extend  downward  the  copper  becomes 
allied  with  sulphur  and  with  a  minute  quantity  of 
gold  and  silver.  These  outcrops  are  quite  extensive, 
the  belt  extending  into  the  six  neighboring  counties. 
The  second  field  lies  almost  north  of  the  first,  on 
the  borders  of  the  Indian  Territory,  in  the  valley  of 
the  Wichita,  a  tributary  of  Red  River,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Wichita  Mountains,  from  which  ores 
are  supposed  to  have  been  washed  down.  "  Large 
masses,  weighing  as  much  as  two  tons,  have  been 
found,  but  no  vein  has  yet  been  exposed."  (Mineral 
Resources  of  U.  S.,  p.  343.)  The  third  field  is  in  the 
southwest  portion  of  the  State,  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  Chinate  Mountains  and  in  the  ranges  between 
the  latter  and  Mexico,  and  also  in  the  Guadalupe 
Mountains,  between  the  Pecos  River  and  the  Rio 
Grande  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Davis.  The  evidence 
is  presumptive  that  there  are  vast  deposits  of  cop- 
per-ores, lying  in  a  line  north  and  south,  all  through 
the  western  portion  of  Texas. 

Copper  in  the  Territories. — The  copper-ores  of 
Wyoming  are  carbonates  and  oxides ;  they  are  rich, 
producing  a  good  grade  of  metal,  and  are  found  in 
great  abundance.  (Governor  s  Report,  1885.)  But  as 


206  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

yet  comparatively  few  mines  have  been  opened  ;  sev- 
eral lodes  of  copper  occur  in  the  region  north  of 
Fort  Laramie ;  these  contain  an  ore  rich  in  quality. 
Southwest  of  the  latter  a  number  of  rich  deposits 
have  been  discovered  in  the  Platte  Canon  district, 
to  smelt  the  ores  of  which  works  have  been  estab- 
lished at  the  mouth  of  the  canon  on  the  bank  of 
the  North  Platte  River.  The  ore  is  obtained  by 
means  of  shafts.  Throughout  much  of  the  southern 
and  middle  portion  of  the  Territory,  copper-ore  is 
found  in  many  localities,  and  in  addition  there  is  a 
large  area  of  the  Territory  that  has  not  been  exam- 
ined for  the  purpose  of  finding  copper.  In  a  locality 
northwest  of  Cheyenne,  some  twenty-five  miles,  and 
on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Laramie  range,  is  a  min- 
ing district  known  as  the  Silver  Crown  ;  here  is  a 
deposit  of  copper-ore,  that  is  mingled  with  gold  and 
silver.  A  test  mine  showed  veins  of  ore  from  two  to 
three  feet  thick ;  the  dip  of  these  veins  is  almost  per- 
pendicular. "  One  of  the  veins  showed  30  per  cent 
of  copper,  $10.36  per  ton  of  silver,  and  $10.33  Per 
ton  of  gold."  In  another  instance  the  assay  gave  46 
per  cent  of  copper,  and  $20.25  worth  of  silver  per 
ton ;  and  still  another  assay,  from  ore  selected,  gave 
57.4  per  cent  of  copper. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  copper-ores  of  Wyoming  are 
uniformly  rich,  and  the  quantity  within  the  Territory 
thus  far  discovered  indicates  that  there  are  other  de- 
posits equally  rich  and  extensive. 

Dakota  Copper-Ore.— This  Territory  has  depos- 


Montana  Copper.  207 

its  of  copper-ore,  but  they  have  not  as  yet  been  de- 
veloped. (Mineral  Resources  of  U.  5.,  1883-1884..} 

Montana  Copper-Ores. — Montana  is  noted  for  her 
valuable  coal-fields,  and  she  is  equally  fortunate  in 
the  possession  of  copper-ores,  as  the  latter  are  rich  in 
character  and  great  in  extent.  The  mining  district 
of  the  Territory  that  holds  the  first  place  in  the  pro- 
duction of  copper  is  located  about  thirty  miles  south 
of  Helena,  in  the  vicinity  of  Butte  City.  In  the  output 
of  copper  the  mines  here  are  second  only  to  those  of 
Lake  Superior  ;  in  addition,  this  district  produces  not 
only  copper,  but  in  connection  with  it  a  fair  amount 
of  silver.  These  mines  are  confined  to  an  area  of 
about  two  and  a  half  miles  in  length  by  about  one  in 
width ;  but  within  this  comparatively  small  space  is 
concentrated  an  immense  amount  of  copper-ore 
mingled  with  silver.  The  great  size  of  the  Butte 
City  copper  veins  is  remarkable.  "  Often  a  vein  is 
thirty  feet  in  width  for  several  hundred  feet  of  its 
course,  and  filled  with  ore  the  entire  distance,  and 
very  often  these  veins  show  no  diminution  in  the 
richness  of  the  ore." 

The  copper  deposits  of  the  Territory  are  by  no 
means  limited  to  such  small  quarters,  as  they  are 
found  extensively  in  many  other  localities.  "  These 
all,  without  exception,  contain  copper  and  silver, 
though  in  widely  varying  proportions,  and  most  of 
them  contain  traces  of  gold."  So  much  is  this  the 
case  that  often  mines,  which  to-day  are  worked  con- 
jointly to  obtain  copper  and  silver,  were  worked 


2o8  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

originally  for  silver  alone.  Then  it  is  proper  to 
take  into  consideration  that  these  veins  have  some- 
times also  "  a  silver-bearing  lead  of  great  value,  car- 
rying on  an  average  two  thirds  of  an  ounce  of  silver 
for  each  per  cent  of  copper."  The  indications  are 
that  copper-ores  abound  in  the  greater  portion  of  the 
Territory. 

Idaho  Copper. — In  Idaho,  according  to  the  Gov- 
ernor's report  (1885),  are  rich  and  quite  extensive 
copper-mines.  They  are  in  different  localities,  among 
others  a  group  of  mines  known  as  the  Peacock ;  one 
of  these,  an  immense  deposit  of  ore,  lies  a  few  miles 
from  Snake  River,  in  the  singular  position  of  being 
on  a  mountain  4,000  feet  above  the  river.  "  The  ore 
runs  high  in  copper,  and  carries  also  a  high  per  cent 
of  silver."  These  mines,  from  their  nearness  to  the 
railway,  and  their  facilities  for  working,  will  ere  long 
be  noted  for  their  output  of  copper.  There  are  also 
copper-mines  on  the  Middle  Weiser  River,  which, 
since  the  construction  of  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Rail- 
way, have  become  accessible.  In  addition,  large 
lodes  of  copper-ores  have  been  discovered  on  Lost 
River,  east  of  Idaho  City,  the  ores  of  which  are 
represented  as  "  marvelously  rich."  In  this  vicinity 
several  mines  are  in  operation. 

New  Mexico.— Near  the  middle  of  this  Territory, 
in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  are  large  deposits  of 
copper-ore,  which  consist  of  the  usual  kinds  or  grades 
that  require  smelting.  As  quoted  in  New  Mexico 
Illustrated,  p.  103,  from  a  writer  in  the  Albuquerque 


Arizona  Copper.  209 

Journal,  the  copper-fields  in  Bernalillo  County  are 
described  as  very  rich  in  ore  and  of  immense  quan- 
tity, but  as  yet  in  trust  for  the  future,  and  waiting  to 
be  developed.  In  Lincoln  County,  in  the  valley  of 
the  Pecos,  "an  immense  copper  belt  has  recently 
been  discovered,  bearing  both  native  copper  and 
copper  glance "  or  sulphuret.  For  the  most  part 
the  geological  formation  Of  New  Mexico  assures 
wealth  in  the  form  of  a  number  of  minerals,  and 
not  the  least  is  that  of  copper. 

Arizona. — This  Territory  has  also  mines  of  cop- 
per, which  are  found  throughout  her  domain.  A 
large  deposit  occurs  in  the  valley  of  the  Gila,  north 
of  Tucson,  not  far  from  the  line  of  the  Southern  Pa- 
cific Railway.  These  copper-ores  are  in  great  abun- 
dance, and  are  of  almost  every  class,  such  as  sul- 
phurets,  carbonates,  and  oxides ;  some  of  them  carry 
a  small  quantity  of  gold  and  silver.  As  a  rule,  the 
copper-ores  of  Arizona  occur  in  diversified  forms ; 
some  are  found  in  isolated  chambers  or  pockets,  as 
the  miners  say,  while  others  are  in  well-defined 
veins,  and  may  be  traced  by  their  regularity  for  a 
long  distance.  There  are  also  numbers  of  locali- 
ties where  indications  of  copper  occur.  The  time 
may  not  be  far  distant  when  this  great  mineral 
wealth  will  be  utilized  for  the  benefit  of  the  peo- 
pie. 

Copper  on  the  Pacific  Slope.— In  the  Puget 
Sound  region,  in  Washington  Territory,  occurs  a 
large  vein  of  copper-ore  carrying  silver,  and,  ac- 


2io  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

cording  to  the  Governor's  report  (1886),  that  ore 
abounds  in  several  portions  of  the  Territory ;  but 
definite  information  on  the  subject  of  the  amount 
and  quality  had  not  been  ascertained,  as  these  mines 
had  been  only  partially  opened  and  worked.  In 
due  time  these  copper  deposits  will  be  made  avail- 
able and  utilized,  but  at  present  the  people  are  much 
more  absorbed  in  mining  coal  and  iron-ores  than  in 
any  other  class  of  minerals. 

In  Oregon  deposits  of  rich  copper-ores  exist  in 
various  places  ;  these  have  been  occasionally  opened 
and  but  partially  worked — the  people  having  been 
much  more  engaged  in  other  pursuits,  and  what 
mining  they  have  done  has  been  for  gold  in  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  State,  which  for  the  present 
pays  much  more  than  mining  copper,  even  if  the 
facilities  for  it  were  much  better  than  they  are. 
Copper  can  be  obtained  so  easily  from  other  por- 
tions of  the  Union,  that  on  the  Pacific  slope  its  min- 
ing, commercially  speaking,  is  not  satisfactory. 

In  Nevada  County,  California,  copper  deposits  of 
great  value  are  located.  The  ore  is  a  sulphuret  and 
for  the  most  part  lies  in  an  inaccessible  position  for 
mining.  There  are  several  other  localities  in  the 
State  where  copper  is  found,  yet  the  whole  State 
mined  only  about  235  short  tons  in  1885. 


XXL 

LEAD. 

THE  galena  or  ore  of  this  metal  is  abundantly  dis- 
tributed over  the  United  States,  but  very  unequally 
as  to  the  quantity  found  in  different  places.  It 
sometimes  occurs  between  strata  of  limestone,  but 
oftener  in  veins  or  deposits  in  connection  with  other 
metals,  especially  silver  and  copper.  Though  it  is 
found  in  numerous  places  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  the 
amount  is  limited,  our  main  deposit  being  within 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Geologically  speaking,  it  occurs  among 
several  kinds  of  rocks  and  of  different  ages  and 
formations,  and  appears  to  be  at  home  in  any  of 
them ;  but  galena,  or  the  sulphuret  of  lead,  is  spe- 
cially its  own  ore,  since  it  is  never  obtained  pure, 
like  copper,  or  silver,  or  gold. 

Lead  on  the  Atlantic  Slope. — In  New  England 
lead  is  found  in  every  State  except  Rhode  Island. 
In  these  States  it  has  been  mined  in  comparatively 
small  quantities  and  at  heavy  expense,  and  only  to 
supply  a  domestic  want.  In  working  these  lead- 
ores  a  small  amount  of  silver  has  sometimes  been  ob- 


212  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

tained.  Much  richer  mines  than  those  of  New  Eng- 
land have  been  discovered  and  worked  in  Northern 
New  York,  in  St.  Lawrence  County.  In  the  latter 
deposit  the  galena  is  famed  for  its  beautiful  crystal- 
lizations, but  the  production  of  the  metal  in  respect 
to  profit  has  not  been  successful.  Numerous  other 
small  veins  of  lead-ore  are  also  found  in  this  State. 
The  deposits  of  lead  east  of  the  Alleghanies  are  often 
deceptive.  They  are  frequently  isolated  in  what  the 
miners  call  "  bunches  "  ;  if  a  vein  happens  to  be  con- 
tinuous, it  is  more  likely  to  become  thin  than  other- 
wise, and  not  productive  enough  to  warrant  the  ex- 
pense of  removing  the  surroundings  of  the  ore.  At 
one  time  lead-mines  located  in  Chester  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, were  thought  to  be  valuable,  but  they  de- 
veloped the  usual  lack  of  ore,  and  finally  were  aban- 
doned. In  the  gold  region  of  North  Carolina  one 
lead-mine  was  discovered  and  worked  a  greater 
length  of  time  than  any  other  on  the  Atlantic  slope, 
but  finally  it  became  exhausted.  The  ore  in  this  in, 
stance  was  combined  to  a  small  extent  with  silver. 
Galena  is  found  in  the  middle  and  northeast  por- 
tion of  the  State  of  Georgia,  though  in  localities 
widely  separated,  but  in  all  more  or  less  sparingly. 
The  ore  when  pure  contains  86.6  per  cent  of  lead 
and  13.4  of  sulphur.  In  one  mine  it  is  found  assock 
ated  with  silver,  gold,  and  copper;  and  in  another 
with  gold  alone,  and  often  with  silver  and  copper; 
then,  again,  in  small  quantities  amid  ledges  of  lime- 
stone as  well  as  within  layers  of  sandstone.  The 


Western  Lead-Fields.  213 

lead-ore  of  this  State  nearly  always  contains  some 
portion  of  silver,  and  sometimes  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  render  it  quite  valuable  as  a  silver-ore,  though  the 
quantity  is  quite  limited. 

The  Western  Lead-Fields. — The  prominent  de- 
posits of  lead-ore  in  the  Great  Valley  are  limited  to 
two — one  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  and  the  other 
300  miles  directly  south  in  the  States  of  Missouri  and 
Kansas.  These  deposits,  though  possessing  some 
qualities  in  common,  are  as  geologically  distinct  as 
they  are  far  separated.  The  first  field  includes  adja- 
cent portions  of  three  States — Wisconsin,  Illinois,  and 
Iowa;  the  second  comprises  mines  in  Missouri, 
principally  on  the  branches  of  the  Maramec  River, 
southwest  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis ;  and  still  farther 
to  the  southwest,  where  the  lead-ore  is  combined 
with  that  of  zinc.  The  lead  region  of  the  upper 
Mississippi  is  4,800  square  miles  in  extent.  What  is 
termed  the  surface  ore  abounds  throughout  the  re- 
gion, and  oftentimes  plowmen  turn  up  lumps  of  it  in 
the  fields.  "  There  are  no  deposits  of  lead  in  this  re- 
gion that  come  under  the  head  of  true  veins ;  they 
are  invariably  limited  in  depth,  and  they  are  all  in  a 
certain  geological  formation,  and  the  productive  part 
does  not  generally  exceed  one  hundred  feet  in  thick- 
ness." (Whitney s  Metals,  etc., p.  410.) 

Lead-Mining. — The  surface  ore  becoming  prac- 
tically exhausted,  the  lead  was  sought  in  the  native 
deposits,  and  its  mining  commenced  on  a  large  scale. 
The  cities  of  Galena  and  Dubuque — the  one  in  Illi- 


214  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

nois  and  the  other  almost  opposite  in  Iowa — are  both 
much  interested  in  this  mining  industry.  The  smelt- 
ing of  lead  is  proverbially  an  unhealthy  business. 
The  furnaces  are  placed,  if  possible,  remote  from 
human  habitations,  and  the  chimneys  are  very  high, 
in  order  to  carry  off  the  poisonous  fumes.  In  the 
vicinity  of  Galena  the  chimneys  extend  sometimes 
to  the  top  of  the  hill  from  furnaces  in  the  valley  be- 
low ;  the  fumes  from  these  will  even  wither  the 
grass,  and  the  only  animal  that  is  proof  against  lead- 
poison  is  the  swine.  Great  numbers  of  the  miners 
at  first  were  foreigners,  originally  for  the  most  part 
from  mines  in  the  north  of  England  and  from  Corn- 
wall. These  deposits  run  deep,  but  the  ore  is  fol- 
lowed down  by  the  persevering  miner  with  his 
pick  and  sledge  and  drills,  for  he  often  calls  to  his 
aid  blasts  of  gunpowder  to  loosen  the  masses  of  ore. 

The  Mound-Builders  and  Lead. — As  no  pure 
lead,  but  only  galena,  or  lead-ore,  has  been  found  in 
the  mounds  located  in  the  vicinity  of  these  mines,  it 
has  been  inferred  that  their  builders  knew  of  the 
metal ;  the  inference  is  rather  that  they  knew  only  of 
the  ore,  and  were  ignorant  of  the  art  of  smelting  it. 
It  is  much  more  probable  that  the  lumps  of  galena 
were  found  on  the  surface  or  near  it,  and  placed  in 
position  in  the  mounds,  as  the  builders  were  in  the 
habit  of  putting  stones  in  these  burial-places. 

Copper  has  also  been  found  in  the  mounds ;  but 
that  metal  the  builders  could  have  obtained  in  a  pure 
state,  but  not  the  lead.  There  is  only  one  instance 


Missouri  and  Kansas  Lead.  215 

in  which  it  has  been  supposed  that  a  lead-mine — the 
Buck  Lode — near  Galena,  had  been  worked  before 
the  coming  of  white  men. 

Missouri  and  Kansas  Lead. — The  lead  area — 
that  is,  where  that  metal  is  found — of  the  State  of 
Missouri  is  immense.  It  extends  in  two  belts :  one 
in  a  southerly  direction  from  within  a  score  of  miles 
of  St.  Louis,  in  that  portion  of  the  State  which  lies 
between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  Ozark  Mount- 
ains, and  along  the  latter's  eastern  slope  down 
nearly  to  the  State  boundary.  This  region  south- 
east of  Pilot  Knob,  except  near  the  river,  is  rough 
and  hilly,  but  abounding  in  isolated  deposits  of  min- 
erals, such  as  lead,  iron-ore,  brown  hematite,  copper, 
nickel,  and  zinc.  The  other  belt  extends  in  a  south- 
west direction  through  the  middle  portion  of  the 
State,  on  the  head-streams  of  the  Maramec  and 
Osage  Rivers,  and  thence  along  the  western  slope 
of  the  Ozark  Mountains  to  the  extreme  southwest 
portion  of  the  State,  even  into  Southeastern  Kansas, 
into  Arkansas,  and  also  into  the  Indian  Territory. 
This  rich  southwest  deposit  of  lead-ore  is  also  com- 
bined with  zinc — the  latter  predominating,  as  we 
shall  see. 

In  1875  lead-ore  was  accidentally  discovered  in 
Dade  County,  in  the  southwestern  portion  of  the 
State.  It  was  an  immense  and  solid  mass  of  lead 
almost  pure,  and  amounting  in  weight  to  about 
twenty-five  tons ;  this  discovery  was  as  surprising  as 
that  of  the  great  mass  of  anthracite  coal  on  Mauch 


216  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Chunk  Mountain  in  Pennsylvania  (page  30).  The 
ore  in  this  region  is  usually  found  in  smaller  quanti- 
ties, and  in  isolated  deposits  at  depths  of  a  few 
inches  to  one  hundred  feet,  and  in  this  particular  lo- 
cality occupying  an  area  of  two  square  miles,  with 
indications  of  similar  large  deposits  in  the  vicinity. 
The  quality  of  the  lead  and  zinc  ores  thus  associated 
is  deemed  the  richest  within  the  State.  There  are 
also  in  this  section  many  known  deposits  of  lead 
and  zinc  ores  waiting  in  store  for  future  use,  as  their 
contents  are  not  yet  needed  to  supply  the  wants  of 
the  people ;  when  that  necessity  arises,  railways  will 
make  them  available.  The  cities  of  Joplin  and  Car- 
thage, in  Jasper  County,  are  both  prominent  as  being 
each  the  center  of  a  rich  mineral  district.  The  vil- 
lage of  Granby,  in  Newton  County — among  the  first 
to  enter  upon  the  work — is  largely  engaged  in  min- 
ing lead.  The  ore  lies  unusually  deep,  and  shafts  are 
sunk  in  order  to  reach  it,  but  its  great  richness  am- 
ply repays  the  extra  expenditure.  Adjacent  to  these 
lead-mines  are  those  in  Cherokee  County,  Kansas, 
in  which  zinc-ore  appears  to  predominate ;  hence  in 
the  latter  the  output  of  zinc  is  greater  than  that  of 
lead.  In  speaking  of  Central  Missouri,  including  the 
western  slope  of  the  Ozark  Mountains,  the  "  Hand- 
book "  of  the  State  says :  "  Lead  [combined  with 
zinc],  iron,  and  copper  ores  crop  out  of  all  the  hills 
and  bluffs  as  well  as  showing  on  the  surface  in  the 
rich  valleys ;  .  .  .  the  lead  and  iron  ores  are  in  inex- 
haustible quantities." 


Rocky  Mountain  Lead,  217 

New  Mexico  and  Arizona  Lead. — In  New  Mexi- 
co, in  the  vicinity  of  Socorro,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  is  an  extensive  deposit  of  lead-ore 
which  has  been  opened  to  some  extent.  This  ore 
is  rich  and  combined  slightly  with  silver,  while  the 
expenses,  for  the  present,  of  mining  and  smelting, 
are  comparatively  small.  Lead-ore,  apparently  of  the 
same  general  character,  is  found  also  in  Arizona,  and 
quite  extensive.  These  mines  have  been  operated  to 
some  extent. 

Rocky  Mountain  Lead. — The  lead-ores  in  the 
States  of  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Missouri,  and 
Kansas  are  more  in  combination  with  zinc  than  with 
any  other  metal,  but  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  they 
are  closely  allied  with  silver,  and  to  such  an  extent 
that  mineralogists  distinguish  the  lead- ore  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  as  argentiferous  or  silverized, 
while  that  from  the  States  just  mentioned  is  charac- 
terized as  non-argentiferous  or  devoid  of  silver.  The 
distance  from  Joplin,  near  the  center  of  the  Missouri 
lead  region,  to  Leadville,  near  the  center  of  that  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  about  700  miles,  while  the 
two  fields  in  their  direction  north  and  south  are  near- 
ly parallel.  The  amount  of  lead  derived  from  the 
mines  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  1884,  was  about 
six  times  as  much  as  that  from  the  mines  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi,  while  those  of  the  latter  not 
only  produced  lead,  but  compensated  the  miners  by 
their  output  of  zinc.  As  yet  scarcely  any  zinc-ores 
have  been  discovered  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  while 


218  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

an  authority  states  that  the  silver  produced  from  the 
lead-mines  pays  every  expense,  so  that  the  lead  ob- 
tained is  clear  profit. 

Colorado  and  Utah  Lead.— Colorado  produces 
more  lead  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union,  and 
Leadville  is  the  present  center  of  that  production. 
This  furnishes  also  both  silver  and  gold,  as  these  are 
here  allied  with  the  lead-ore.  In  1884,  63,165  tons  of 
lead  were  mined  in  this  State— the  Leadville  district 
alone  furnishing  35,296  tons,  with  5,720,904  ounces  of 
silver,  and  22,626  ounces  of  gold.  There  are  certain 
classes  of  ores  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Leadville 
wherein  exist  other  elements,  such  as  zinc-ore  to 
a  small  extent,  and  sulphurets  of  iron  as  well  as 
of  silver.  New  discoveries  continue  to  be  made 
in  the  region  and  new  mines  opened,  the  lead 
area  being  very  extensive.  Utah  has  also  a  large 
area  where  lead-ores  are  obtained ;  they  partake  of 
the  usual  qualities  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  ores, 
though  they  are  located  within  the  Great  Basin,  and 
on  the  west  slope  of  the  latter  mountains.  A  large 
number  of  these  deposits  have  been  opened,  and  the 
ores  mined  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  the  Ter- 
ritory a  large  producer  of  lead.  The  ores,  how- 
ever, of  Utah  are  not  of  as  high  grade  as  those  of 
some  of  her  neighbors.  It  is  often  the  case  that  the 
value  of  the  lead  obtained  from  these  mines  is  less 
than  that  of  the  silver. 

Montana  and  Idaho  Lead. — Lead  is  found  in  South- 
Middle    Montana   near   Helena,    500   miles   west   of 


Montana  and  Idaho  Lead.  219 

north  from  Leadville.  This  ore  is  in  veins  or  fis- 
sures in  the  granite,  and  ranges  in  thickness  from 
one  foot  to  one  hundred.  This  galena  or  lead-ore  is 
associated  to  some  extent  with  that  of  zinc,  as  well 
as  with  copper  and  the  sulphuret  of  iron,  silver  being 
very  rare.  Lead  deposits  also  exist  in  the  northern 
portion  of  Montana,  on  the  head-streams  of  the  Mis- 
souri. In  Idaho  the  deposits  are  amid  ledges  of 
limestone,  and  being  very  irregular  the  former  do 
not  conform  to  the  layers  or  dip  of  the  latter.  Thus 
we  see  the  remarkable  variety  that  prevails  in  the 
forms  and  associations  of  the  lead-ores  found  in  this 
region,  which,  though  of  unequal  width,  extends 
from  about  the  thirty-third  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  across  Utah  and  Colo- 
rado, to  the  forty-seventh  parallel  in  Montana  and 
Idaho — stretching  north  and  south  amid  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  along  their  western  slopes  for  nearly 
1,000  miles.  The  deposits  of  lead-ores  in  this  im- 
mense area  are  by  no  means  connected  with  one  an- 
other, as  there  are  often  intervening  spaces  in  which 
lead  has  not  thus  far  been  discovered.  The  pre- 
sumption is  that  hereafter  many  more  such  de- 
posits will  be  brought  to  light,  and  their  treasures 
utilized  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  people.  The 
entire  area  within  the  United  States  where  lead-ore 
is  found  is  very  difficult  to  be  ascertained  correct- 
ly, but  it  is  thought  that  50,000  square  miles  is  a 
fair  estimate.  Be  that  as  it  may,  "  the  United 
States  now  occupies  the  first  rank  in  the  world  in 


22O  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

the  production  of  lead."     (Mining  Journal,  vol.  xxxvii, 
p.  2$9.) 

Demands  for  Lead. — In  the  advancing  progress 
of  the  United  States,  lead,  in  numerous  forms,  be- 
comes more  and  more  necessary  for  the  comfort  of 
the  people.  In  villages  and  cities  that  are  supplied 
with  water  by  means  of  pipes  leading  from  reser- 
voirs, the  amount  used  is  enormous ;  and  as  villages 
expand  into  cities  and  grow  in  population,  is  the 
demand  increased,  as  they  all  are  anxious  to  be  thus 
supplied  with  water.  This  demand  leads  sometimes 
to  undue  stimulation  in  mining,  and  a  discrepancy 
occurs  in  the  amount  of  output  in  different  succeed- 
ing years,  and,  instead  of  a  uniform  increase,  there 
may  be  a  falling  off  in  the  production,  and  then 
again  an  unusual  advance.  This  does  not  result 
from  a  deficiency  in  the  amount  of  available  ore, 
generally,  but  from  the  prudence  of  the  miners, 
who  find  that  there  has  been  an  overproduction, 
and  they  curtail  their  output  accordingly. 


XXII. 

ZINC. 

THE  ores  of  zinc  are  always  found  in  combina- 
tion with  those  of  other  metals,  such  as  lead,  which 
is  often  blended  with  silver,  or  with  copper  pyrites. 
The  zinc-ores  do  not  generally  contain  as  much  sil- 
ver as  they  do  galena  or  lead-ore,  and  usually  the 
zinc-ore,  as  the  vein  runs  deep,  appears  to  gain  on 
the  lead.  In  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  zinc 
seems  to  be  distributed  wherever  there  are  ores  of 
other  metals,  but  in  quite  limited  quantities.  In 
time  science  may  enable  the  miner  to  utilize  these 
ores. 

In  New  York  State  an  ore  deposit  of  blende  or 
sulphuret  of  zinc  is  found  in  Sullivan  County.  The 
metal-bearing  contents  of  the  vein  are  sulphur  com- 
bined with  zinc,  lead,  copper,  and  iron,  with  traces 
of  silver ;  these  are  associated  with  crystallized 
quartz,  the  zinc  and  lead  predominating :  in  this 
instance  the  lead  of  solid  ore  varies  from  a  mere 
seam  to  three  feet  in  thickness.  There  are,  also, 
many  other  places  in  the  State  where  zinc-ore  oc- 
curs, but  in  small  quantities ;  as  in  lead-mines  in  St. 


222  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Lawrence  County,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Niagara 
Falls,  where  it  is  found  in  small  crystals,  while  at 
the  famous  Stirling  Mountain,  Orange  County,  it 
occurs  in  connection  with  iron-ore. 

The  Great  Zinc  Deposits. — The  most  extensive 
mines  of  zinc  on  the  Atlantic  slope  are  located  in 
Sussex  County,  New  Jersey.  These  deposits  extend 
along  a  range  of  hills  in  a  southwest  direction  from 
near  Stirling  Mountain  in  the  State  of  New  York 
into  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  to  Franklin,  where  is 
produced  the  unusual  metal  known  as  Franklinite— 
a  compound  of  iron,  zinc,  and  manganese,  the  latter 
being  a  peculiar  metal  of  a  whitish-gray  color,  Very 
hard  and  difficult  to  fuse  or  melt.  Here  is  one  of 
the  finest  zinc  and  manganese  ore-beds  yet  discov- 
ered in  the  Union,  if  not  in  the  world,  and  here  are 
produced  manganese,  iron,  zinc,  or  spelter,  and  the 
oxide  of  zinc.  The  latter  is  used  extensively  in  the 
manufacture  of  a  brilliantly  white  paint,  the  effect 
of  which  is  not  only  striking  as  used  in  ordinary 
painting,  but  in  giving  the  purest  white  tints  when 
employed  in  making  wall-paper.  When  prepared 
for  use  it  is  "a  clear,  white,  impalpable  powder," 
and  it  is  claimed  to  be  chemically  pure.  Metallic 
zinc  is  also  produced  in  the  form  of  slabs  and  plates, 
as  it  is  susceptible  of  being  rolled  into  sheets. 

The  ore-beds  at  these  mines  vary  often  in  thick- 
ness, ranging  during  a  year's  workings  sometimes 
from  two  to  thirty  feet.  Great  improvements  have 
been  made  in  the  methods  of  extracting  the  zinc 


Tennessee  Zinc.  223 

from  its  surroundings  and  combinations  with  other 
metals,  and  the  latter  with  sulphur. 

Pennsylvania  Zinc. — The  Jersey  hills  in  which 
zinc-ores  occur  extend  into  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  nearly  the  same  class  of  ores  are  found 
in  Lehigh  County,  though  their  characteristics  are 
somewhat  different.  In  Pennsylvania  the  ore  is  a 
silicate  of  zinc  of  a  good  quality,  and  quite  free  from 
mixture  with  either  lead  or  iron.  Here  the  deposits 
are  immense ;  the  ore  lies  in  the  same  direction  as 
the  adjacent  limestone.  Smelting-furnaces  are  near 
the  town  of  Bethlehem.  These  more  especially 
make  the  oxide  for  painting  directly  from  the  ore, 
and  the  latter  yields  from  40  to  60  per  cent  of  metal. 

Tennessee  Zinc. — Zinc-ore  occurs  in  different 
places  amid  the  Cumberland  Mountains  in  the  east- 
ern portion  of  this  State.  The  deposits  are  found  to 
run  for  some  sixty  or  seventy  miles  in  a  southwest 
and  northeast  direction,  extending  even  into  the 
State  of  Virginia,  where  the  ore  is  said  to  be  of  good 
quality.  The  deposits  are  within  the  valleys  of  the 
Clinch  and  the  Holston  Rivers ;  these  two  unite  and 
form  the  Tennessee.  Works  have  been  established 
to  manufacture  metallic  zinc,  though  the  ores  are 
said  not  to  be  as  rich  as  some  others,  owing  to  the 
presence  of  sulphur.  One  of  these  establishments 
has  a  capacity  to  turn  out  a  ton  and  a  half  of  metal- 
lic zinc  a  day. 

Western  Zinc.— We  now  pass  to  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  find  zinc-ore  deposits  of  great  value 


224  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

and  extent  in  the  north-middle  portion  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  towns  of  Peru  and  La 
Salle  ;  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  and  southwest  of 
these  beyond  the  Mississippi  within  the  States  of 
Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Arkansas.  In  all  these  the  ore 
is  more  or  less  combined  with  that  of  lead. 

On  the  western  slope  of  the  Ozark  Mountains, 
in  Missouri,  is  an  extensive  area  where  zinc-ore 
abounds.  These  beds  are  in  the  Southwestern  por- 
tion of  the  State,  and  extend  into  Southeastern  Kan- 
sas, and  probably  still  farther  into  the  Indian  Terri- 
tory. The  zinc  deposits  in  Bade  County  are  stated 
in  the  "  Handbook  of  Missouri  "  to  be  "  practically 
inexhaustible." 

Discoveries  were  made,  in  1873,  of  zinc-ore  in 
Southwestern  Missouri,  in  Jasper  County.  Here  are 
located  mines  or  deposits  of  both  lead  and  zinc  ores 
combined,  and  in  immense  quantities  ;  they  extend 
into  the  adjoining  county  of  Newton  and  across^ 
the  State  line  far  into  Kansas.  These  lead  and  zinc 
ores  are  the  richest  thus  far  discovered  within  the 
United  States.  The  city  of  Joplin  is  the  center  of 
this  important  mineral  district,  which  for  the  last 
few  years  has  furnished  three  fourths  of  all  the  zinc 
manufactured  in  the  United  States.  The  entire  re- 
gion is  heavily  timbered,  and  well  watered  by  liv- 
ing streams,  in  and  along  the  valleys  of  which  are 
the  mineral  deposits.  The  city  of  Joplin,  because 
of  its  extensive  operations  in  mining  zinc  and  lead, 
has  become  the  fourth  city  in  size  in  the  State  of 


Discoveries  of  Zinc-Ores.  225 

Missouri.  The  output  of  these  mines,  in  1884,  was 
74,250  tons  of  zinc-ore,  which  was  transported  to 
smelting  establishments,  while  in  the  adjacent  coun- 
ty of  Cherokee,  in  Kansas,  it  is  estimated  that  there 
were  mined  about  33,000  tons  of  the  same  ore.  Nu- 
merous discoveries  of  zinc  and  lead  ores  have  been 
made  in  other  places  in  Central  Missouri  and  also  in 
the  counties  of  the  State  of  Arkansas  that  border  on 
the  Missouri  line.  The  United  States  ranks  third 
among  the  zinc-producers  of  the  world. 


16 


XXIII. 

TIN. 

THIS  metal,  when  in  a  state  of  ore,  combines  with 
very  few  substances  ;  only  two  of  such  combinations 
are  worthy  of  mention  in  this  limited  notice — one, 
tin-stone ;  the  other,  tin  pyrites,  or  sulphuret  of  tin. 
The  former  is  an  oxide,  and  in  a  hundred  parts  con- 
tains 78.62  of  tin  and  21.38  of  oxygen;  the  latter  is 
usually  allied  with  copper,  or  iron,  or  zinc,  and  often 
at  the  same  time  with  all  three.  The  ore  when  im- 
bedded in  quartz-rock  and  mica  or  tin-stone,  or  in  the 
fissures  of  a  certain  class  of  granitic  rocks,  is,  in 
color,  usually  dark  brown  or  even  black.  The  metal 
itself  is  a  silvery  white,  with  a  yellow  tint ;  it  is 
harder  than  lead,  but  softer  than  zinc.  It  can  not  to 
any  extent  be  drawn  out  into  wire,  but  can  be  beaten 
into  leaves  so  thin  that  1,000  of  them  could  be  com- 
prised within  the  thickness  of  an  inch.  When  a  bar 
of  tin  is  bent,  it  produces  what  is  called  the  "  cry  of 
tin,"  and  experts  can  judge  of  its  quality  by  this 
sound.  "  The  purest  form  of  tin  in  commerce  is 
called  "  grain-tin,"  and  the  ordinary  quality  "  block- 
tin."  The  geological  position  of  tin-ore  is  peculiar, 


United  States   Tin.  227 

as  it  is  found  only  in  the  three  oldest  class  of 
rocks. 

Tin  ;  when  discovered. — Tin  was  known  from  the 
earliest  historical  times,  and  combining  it  with  cop- 
per was  practiced  by  the  ancients ;  as  we  find  bronze 
was  in  use  in  the  earliest  historical  periods,  before 
they  made  brass  by  combining  copper  with  zinc. 
The  most  important  district  in  Europe  for  the  pro- 
duction of  tin  is  Cornwall,  in  England.  The  mines 
in  that  vicinity  were  known  and  worked  by  the 
Phoenicians  before  the  Christian  era,  and  have  been 
worked  from  that  day  to  this  ;  though  now  the  exca- 
vations extend  for  about  3,000  feet  into  the  earth,  and 
leads  are  driven  in  every  direction,  some  far  out 
under  the  ocean.  In  modern  times  an  immense 
amount  of  tin  is  obtained  from  islands  in  the  Ma- 
layan Archipelago,  the  principal  deposit  being  on  the 
small  Island  of  Banca.  These  mines  are  worked 
almost  exclusively  by  the  Chinese,  who  exercise 
but  little  engineering  skill,  as  the  excavations  are 
shallow  and  worked  from  the  top  only,  the  ore  being 
what  is  termed  stream  or  alluvial  ore. 

Tin  in  the  United  States. — Until  recently,  tin  has 
never  been  discovered  in  the  Union,  but  in  small 
quantities  and  in  isolated  places — a  few  crystals 
being  found  here  and  there  amid  granitic  rocks,  but 
of  no  commercial  value.  In  the  vicinity  of  Jackson, 
New  Hampshire,  tin-ore  exists  in  veins  ranging  in 
thickness  from  one  inch  to  eight.  It  has  been  found 
also  near  Windsor,  in  the  State  of  Maine ;  at  Goshen, 


228  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

in  Massachusetts ;  and  at  Haddam,  in  Connecticut ; 
and  in  many  other  places,  traces  of  tin  are  found. 
At  Windsor  attempts  were  made  to  work  the  mines, 
but  without  success,  because  of  the  limited  amount  of 
ore.  In  the  magnetic  iron-ores  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey,  tin  in  small  quantities  has  been  detected 
by  chemists. 

Tin  in  Virginia. — In  Rockbridge  County  in  this 
State,  in  one  place,  a  "  tin-bearing  vein  apparently 
cuts  across  the  rock  for  thirty-six  feet.  This  vein  is 
made  up  of  white  quartz  with  tin-ore,  but  the  thick- 
ness is  not  stated."  The  samples  assayed  showed  an 
average  of  32  per  cent  of  tin.  In  the  adjoining  county 
of  Nelson  "  is  a  vein  several  inches  thick  running 
east  and  west,  and  which  traverses  a  rock  consisting 
principally  of  large  crystals  of  quartz  and  feldspar 
with  some  mica."  On  the  northwestern  slope  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  is  a  tin  deposit  or  vein  in  granitic  rock  at 
an  elevation  of  2,700  feet  above  the  sea.  This  mine 
is  twenty-two  miles  east  of  Lexington,  the  capital  of 
Rockbridge  County.  "  The  main  lode  extends  in  the 
general  direction  of  the  mountains  and  rock  forma- 
tions. It  is  apparently  made  up  of  several  parallel 
veins  with  an  average  width  together  of  perhaps  100 
feet,  and  traceable  on  the  surface."  The  workable 
ore,  so  far  as  shown,  exists  practically  in  lumps  and 
veins  clearly  definable,  and  the  color  of  the  ore, 
which  is  free  from  injurious  minerals,  is  a  light  yel- 
lowish brown  to  a  dark  brown.  "  Selected  pieces 
of  this  tin-stone  yielded  more  than  70  per  cent  of  me- 


Tin  in  the  Black  Hills.  229 

tallic  tin."  In  several  places  operations  have  been 
recently  commenced  to  extract  the  tin ;  but  the  veins, 
though  rich,  are  so  thin,  as  a  general  rule,  that  fears 
are  entertained  they  will  not  be  remunerative.  (Min- 
eral Resources  of  U.  S.,  //.  599-602,  for  1883-1884.) 
Within  recent  years  tin-bearing  veins  have  been 
found  in  that  section  of  the  country  in  a  number  of 
places,  especially  in  Mason  and  in  Cabell  Counties, 
West  Virginia.  Tin-ore  has  been  discovered  near 
King's  Mountain,  North  Carolina,  and  under  the 
usual  conditions  ;  also  minute  particles  in  Georgia 
and  Alabama.  These  discoveries  have  all  been 
made  within  recent  years,  and  future  exploration 
may  lead  to  finding  large  deposits  of  tin-ore.  This 
metal  is  said  to  have  been  found  within  a  few  years, 
but  in  small  quantities,  in  the  States  of  Texas  and 
Missouri. 

Tin  in  the  Black  Hills.— The  people  of  the 
United  States,  though  abundantly  supplied,  as  we 
have  seen,  from  their  own  resources,  with  the  useful 
minerals  of  coal  and  iron,  gold  and  silver,  and  cop- 
per and  lead,  yet  of  tin  they  virtually  knew  of  none 
within  their  wide  domain.  But  the  influence  of  a 
discovery  in  1883  may  make  them  as  independent  of 
the  outside  world  in  respect  to  tin  as  they  are  in  re- 
lation to  the  other  metals.  In  June  of  that  year 
there  arrived  at  San  Francisco  a  box  filled  with 
specimens  of  a  heavy,  dark-colored  ore ;  it  was  sent 
from  the  Black  Hills  of  Dakota,  and  was  consigned 
to  a  firm  in  that  city,  with  the  request  to  assay  the 


230  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

ore  and  determine  its  character.  It  was  tested,  and 
found  to  be  cassiterite,  or  tin-ore,  and  that  it  assayed 
40  per  cent  in  metallic  tin.  The  location  of  the  dis- 
covery is  in  a  central  position  amid  the  Black  Hills — 
thus  named  from  the  peculiarly  dark  foliage  of  the 
dense  growth  of  pines  with  which  they  are  covered. 
The  meridian  line  of  104°  west  is  the  boundary  be- 
tween Dakota  and  Wyoming  Territories ;  this  line 
gives  about  two  thirds  of  the  Black  Hills  to  the 
former. 

They  stand  amid  immense  plains ;  and  the  inter- 
nal convulsion  that  pushed  them  up  also  brought  to 
the  surface  at  their  tops' some  of  the  oldest  rocks, 
geologically  speaking.  These  rocks  rise  in  groups 
of  irregular  peaks  and  broken  ridges,  running  north 
and  south  in  their  general  direction.  They  consist 
more  or  less  of  fine-grained  mica-schist,  a  slaty  struct- 
ure, micaceous  sandstones,  while  traversed  by  veins 
of  quartz  slightly  gold-bearing.  Amid  these  various 
strata  is  found  tin-stone,  in  which  are  seen  little  glob- 
ules of  tin-ore,  generally  of  a  dark-brown  or  even 
almost  black  color.  The  entire  geological  formation 
is  very  much  diversified.  But  we  can  not  go  into 
detail. 

Numerous  discoveries  of  tin-ore  have  been  made 
in  the  Hills,  as  the  tin  area  covers  many  square 
miles  of  surface ;  this  area  is  in  progress  of  being 
thoroughly  and  scientifically  explored.  From  lack 
of  the  proper  knowledge,  many  have  located  claims 
that  have  proved  worthless.  The  Black  Hills  are  by 


Placer  -  Tin.  231 

no  means  one  vast  deposit  of  tin-ore.  The  portion 
of  the  Hills  in  Dakota  has  been  much  better  ex- 
plored or  prospected  in  respect  to  tin-mines  than  the 
portion  belonging  to  Wyoming.  Hon.  Francis  E. 
Warren,  Governor  of  the  latter,  in  his  report  (1885) 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  affirms  that  tin-ore 
exists  equally  on  the  west  slope  of  the  Hills,  but  the 
deposits  have  been  thus  far  developed  only  suffi- 
ciently to  determine  their  general  character  and 
scope. 

Placer-Tin. — As  in  finding  gold  there  are  placer- 
mines,  so  are  they  in  finding  tin,  the  difference  being 
that  the  gold  obtained  is  pure,  while  the  tin  is  in  the 
form  of  ore.  The  latter  is  called  "  stream-tin,"  because 
found  in  the  beds  of  streams,  or  in  the  alluvial  soil 
along  their  banks.  In  ages  past  the  elements  disin- 
tegrated the  peculiar  rocks  and  veins  in  which  the 
tin-ore  was  imbedded,  and,  as  the  smaller  pieces  were 
carried  down  the  mountain,  the  attritions  caused  by 
the  rushing  waters  stripped  the  ore  more  or  less  of 
its  surroundings,  and  being  thus  free  and  heavy  it 
sank  to  the  bottom.  The  usual  placer  tin-ore  is 
found  in  globules  of  different  sizes,  from  "  that  of  a 
pea  to  that  of  a  pigeon-egg,  and  even  sometimes 
larger."  The  miners  for  gold  in  some  of  the  placers 
of  the  Black  Hills  were  often  inconvenienced  by  the 
presence  of  larger  masses  of  this  heavy  black  ore,  or 
as  they  thought  stone,  and,  not  knowing  its  value, 
they  threw  it  out  of  the  way  as  a  hindrance.  "  It  is 
now  probable  that  in  these  placers  both  the  stream- 


232  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

tin  and  the  gold  will  be  mined  together  and  to  much 
greater  advantage  than  either  worked  alone."  (Min. 
Res.  of  U.  S.  for  1883-1884.,  p.  6ij.)  In  the  Black 
Hills,  on  both  sides,  tin  placer-mines  are  found  along 
the  streams  that  have  their  head-springs  amid  the 
"greisen  rocks  carrying  tin-stone." 

The  Etta  Mine. — Among  the  many  locations  of 
tin-mines  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Black  Hills,  that 
of  the  Etta  is  now  the  most  extensively  worked,  and 
may  be  deemed  a  successful  pioneer  in  this  new  in- 
dustry, and  for  that  reason  deserves  a  brief  notice. 
This  mine  is  in  the  central  portion  of  the  Hills,  in 
Pennington  County,  Dakota,  a  few  miles  east  of  Har- 
ney  Peak  and  about  twenty  southwest  of  Rapid  City, 
and  also  near  the  dividing  range  of  the  region.  The 
surface  opening  is  on  an  isolated  granitic  hill,  which 
rises  like  a  cone  for  250  feet  above  the  surrounding 
valley,  though  it  is  4,500  feet  above  the  ocean.  This 
whole  region  is  remarkable  for  its  picturesque  beauty 
of  hills  and  valleys  and  numerous  streams  of  living 
water. 

A  granitic  rock  known  to  geologists  as  "  greisen  " 
carries  with  it  "  tin-stone,"  and  together  with  it  occurs 
mica ;  in  the  midst  of  these  compounds  is  imbedded 
tin-ore  in  irregularly  shaped  lumps,  varying  in  size 
from  a  grain  of  wheat  to  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter, and  sometimes  larger.  "  Massive  tin-ore  was 
found  near  the  top  of  the  hill  while  excavating  for 
mica.  Some  of  the  heavier  pieces  of  the  ore  ob- 
tained weighed  from  fifty  to  sixty  pounds,  while 


The  Extraction  of  Tin.  233 

lumps  were  common  whose  weight  was  only  three  or 
four."  The  veins  of  the  "greisen  tin-ore  "  are  here 
nearly  vertical,  running  downward  into  the  mountain. 
They  are  reached  by  tunnels  from  the  side.  One  of 
these  entering  at  a  distance  of  fifty  feet  from  the  hill- 
top struck  a  body  of  greisen  tin-ore  over  twenty  feet 
thick ;  another  entering  at  a  point  125  feet  still  lower 
down  also  reached  the  same  vein,  which  proves  that 
it  runs  downward  similar  to  the  veins  in  the  mines  in 
Cornwall,  England.  This  characteristic  appears  to 
apply  to  all  the  tin-ore  veins  that  have  been  investi- 
gated in  the  Hills.  Thus  far  the  vein-mining  is  quite 
easy,  because  of  these  horizontal  openings ;  but  the 
time  will  no  doubt  come  when  the  tin-ore  of  the 
placer  deposits  will  be  exhausted,  as  well  as  that  ob- 
tained by  means  of  side-tunnels;  then  the  miners  will 
go  below  the  surface,  as  they  do  in  Cornwall. 

The  Tin  extracted  ;  how  ? — Tin-bearing  rock  is 
subjected  to  a  stamping  process  similar  to  that  ap- 
plied to  gold-bearing  quartz.  The  mass  of  crushed 
tin-ore  is  passed  through  washings  in  which  the  pul- 
verized mica,  spar,  etc.,  are  carried  away,  while  the 
heavier  tin-ore  sinks,  and  is  caught  in  pockets  de- 
signed for  the  purpose.  The  heavy  crystals  of  tin- 
ore  separate  easily  from  their  surroundings  of  mica 
and  other  ingredients,  and  the  pure  ore  thus  ob- 
tained is  known  as  "black  tin,"  which  is  now  ready 
for  smelting,  the  result  being  metallic  tin  of  a  bright 
or  silvery  color. 

The  ore  of  these  mines  is  remarkably  free  from 


234  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

any  minerals  or  impurities,  such  as  sulphur  or  ar- 
senic, which  tend  to  impair  the  quality  of  the  tin ; 
neither  has  it  any  mixture  with  the  sulphurets  of 
iron,  or  of  lead,  or  of  copper.  These  general  charac- 
teristics, as  far  as  known,  appear  to  belong  to  the  ore 
of  the  tin  area  on  both  sides  of  the  Black  Hills.  In 
these  several  respects  just  mentioned  this  tin-ore  is 
found  to  be  cleaner  and  purer  than  that  derived 
from  the  mines  of  Cornwall,  while  the  percentage  of 
metallic  tin  obtained  from  the  pure  ore,  or  black  tin, 
is  about  the  same  in  both  cases — that  is,  ranging  from 
60  to  70  per  cent.  Numerous  tin  deposits  have  been 
discovered  along  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Black  Hills, 
and  in  many  instances  mining  operations  have  been 
commenced.  The  area  wherein  these  tin  mines  are 
found  is  estimated  at  more  than  100  square  miles. 
Tin  in  Wyoming  Territory. — On  the  west  slope 
of  the  Black  Hills  tin-ore  appears  to  be  abundant, 
while  as  far  as  tested  it  is  found  equal  in  quality  to 
that  mined  on  the  east  side.  "  There  are  no  heavy 
impurities  in  the  veins  with  which  to  contend ;  no 
combinations  of  tin  with  sulphur  or  arsenic.  .  .  .  The 
granite  intrusions  are  more  regular  and  lode-like 
than  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  range,  and  the  crys- 
tallization is  not  so  coarse."  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  S., 
1883-1884.,  p.  611.)  Mines  have  been  opened  near 
Hill  City,  in  the  extreme  northwestern  portion  of 
the  Harney  Peak  tin  region,  stream-tin  of  a  high 
grade  having  been  previously  picked  up  along  and 
in  the  creeks  running  northwestward  to  branches  of 


Idaho  and  Montana    Tin.  235 

the  Missouri.  This  ore  when  assayed  was  found  to 
yield  about  46  per  cent  of  metallic  tin.  The  area  of 
this  particular  tin  district  is  about  thirty  square 
miles. 

Idaho  and  Montana  Tin. — In  many  points  in 
these  Territories  tin-ore  has  been  found,  and  the  in- 
dications are  that  it  exists  to  a  great  extent  within 
the  region  of  the  Northwest,  where  granitic  forma- 
tions prevail,  particularly  amid  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, on  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri,  and  also 
west  of  them  on  the  streams  flowing  from  the  Bitter 
Root  Mountains  into  Snake  River.  "  A  recent  dis- 
covery of  *  float '  masses  of  tin-ore,  assaying  60  per 
cent,  is  reported  from  Cceur  d'Alene,  Idaho."  Tin- 
ore  has  also  been  found  in  Montana,  near  Helena, 
the  capital,  and  likewise  in  other  places  ;  but  these 
deposits  thus  far  have  not  been  developed. 

In  Southern  California  tin-ore  has  been  found  in 
San  Bernardino  County,  southeast  of  Los  Angeles. 
It  is  a  region  of  granitic  rocks,  and  tin-stone  occurs  in 
many  places,  but  "in  small  quantities  and  in  various 
veinlets  and  small  lodes.  .  .  .  This  region,  though 
affording  tin  oxide  in  many  places  over  a  consider- 
able area,  has  not  realized  the  hopeful  expectations 
of  those  who  have  made  efforts  to  work  such  mines." 
A  number  of  places  in  Middle  and  Northern  Cali- 
fornia have  been  named  as  having  deposits  of  tin- 
ore,  but  nothing  definite  or  reliable  has  yet  been  as- 
certained on  the  subject. 


XXIV. 

MINOR   METALS. 

Chromium,  or  Chrome. — This  is  defined  as  a  hard, 
brittle  metal,  of  a  grayish  color,  and  related  to  iron 
in  many  of  its  properties.  It  derives  its  name  from 
a  Greek  word  meaning  color,  and  its  compounds  pro- 
duce various  and  beautiful  colors,  as  in  the  fine,  deep 
green  of  an  enamel  on  porcelain  and  in  glass,  while 
in  the  chemistry  of  Nature  it  is  traced  in  the  green 
color  of  the  emerald,  as  well  as  in  many  instances  in 
the  arts.  It  is  used  for  decorative  purposes. 

About  the  year  1825  Mr.  Isaac  Tyson  discovered 
on  his  farm,  in  Baltimore  County,  Maryland,  a  pecul- 
iar substance  which  proved  to  be  "  chrome  iron- 
stone "  or  ore.  This  ore  was  at  first  mined  and  sent 
to  England,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  only  place 
where  it  was  in  demand.  About  twenty  years  after 
this  discovery  of  the  mine,  the  Tysons,  father  and 
son,  commenced  the  business  of  decomposing  the  ore, 
and  obtaining  from  it  various  pigments  or  paints ; 
hence  we  have  chrome  -  yellow,  chrome  -  orange, 
chrome-green,  and  even  Turkey-red,  and  other  colors 
used  in  printing  calico.  The  family  (in  the  fourth 


Chromium  on  the  Pacific  Slope.         237 

generation)  still  continue  (1886)  that  business  in  the 
vicinity  of  Baltimore.  In  making  experiments  they 
acquired  several  important  secrets  (that  may  be 
termed  family),  in  respect  to  manipulating  the  ore, 
that  enables  them  to  produce  the  pigments  at  less 
expense  than  can  others,  and  now  they  alone  vir- 
tually supply  the  American  market. 

Several  other  mines  of  chromium-ore  were  dis- 
covered in  the  State  ;  these  the  Tysons  secured,  if 
after  investigation  they  proved  valuable.  The  de- 
posits are  all  liable  to  be  soon  exhausted,  though  one 
of  them,  in  Harford  County,  furnished  ore  steadily 
at  the  annual  rate  of  2,500  tons  for  more  than  forty 
years.  Mines  were  also  discovered  in  Lancaster, 
Delaware,  and  Chester  Counties,  Pennsylvania. 
Chrome-ore  is  noted  for  occurring  in  widely  sepa- 
rated localities,  though  not  in  leads  or  veins  from 
the  direction  of  which  others  might  be  discovered, 
but  in  "  pockets  "  of  different  sizes,  ranging  from  a 
few  pounds  to  thousands  of  tons.  Small  isolated  de- 
posits occur  in  the  States  of  Massachusetts,  Ver- 
mont, and  New  York,  and  south  of  Maryland  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  in  Jackson  County,  North  Carolina.  The 
latter  is  reported  exceptionally  rich  in  chromium. 

On  the  Pacific  slope  large  deposits  of  chrome-ore 
have  been  found  in  Del  Norte,  Placer,  and  Sonoma 
and  other  counties  in  California,  and  these  now  sup- 
ply ore  to  the  Tyson  manufactory  at  Baltimore,  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  working  of  the  mines  on  the 
Atlantic  slope  has  for  the  present  been  practi- 


238  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

cally  abandoned.  This  ore  comes  from  San  Fran- 
cisco in  sailing-vessels  round  Cape  Horn.  So  large 
a  number  of  chrome  deposits,  great  and  small,  occur 
in  California,  that  "  chromium  is  now  known  to  be 
common  throughout  the  State."  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  5., 
1883-1884.) 

It  may  be  stated  that  what  is  known  as  chrome- 
steel  is  made  from  the  iron-ore  that  is  associated 
with  chromium  in  the  mine,  and  that  the  latter  im- 
parts to  the  steel  certain  properties,  though  much 
the  greater  portion  of  the  chrome-ore  is  utilized  in 
preparing  pigments. 

Platinum. — Platinum  is  found  in  small  quantities 
in  the  United  States,  usually  in  pure  grains  and  fre- 
quently with  iridium,  and  is  associated  with  gold  in 
placer-washings.  The  color  is  that  of  silver,  but 
less  bright.  Its  use  is  quite  limited,  because  it  is 
made  available  in  only  small  amounts,  as  in  pins  for 
artificial  teeth  or  in  tips  for  lightning-rods,  and  in 
certain  cases  in  electric  lights,  and  in  giving  lus- 
ter in  porcelain-painting.  The  great  heat  required 
to  melt  platinum,  and  its  property  of  resisting  the 
action  of  acid,  make  it  essential  that  numbers  of  the 
utensils  in  the  chemist's  laboratory,  such  as  cruci- 
bles, retorts,  etc.,  should  be  made  of  that  metal ; 
hence  much  of  its  consumption  consists  in  furnishing 
chemical  apparatus.  As  platinum  has  but  little  affin- 
ity for  other  substances,  it  is  rarely  found  in  the  form 
of  ore,  but  in  this  country  in  small  pure  grains  mixed 
with  gold  sands,  and  therefore  the  product  is  much 


Platinum  on  the  Pacific  Slope.          239 

limited  in  the  United  States,  that  of  1885  being 
about  twenty  pounds  troy.  The  American  ores 
appear  superior  in  fineness  to  those  obtained  from 
the  Russian  mines  in  the  Ural  Mountains — the  for- 
mer giving  85.5  per  cent  of  platinum,  and  the  latter 
76.4.  Russian  mines,  however,  produce  so  much 
greater  quantity,  that  they  furnish  about  80  per 
cent  of  the  world's  production,  and  yet  the  general 
consumption  of  the  metal  is  so  limited  that  this 
amount  is  an  overproduction. 

The  particles  of  platinum,  following  no  rule,  are 
scattered  in  bewildering  confusion  in  foreign  lands 
as  well  as  in  the  United  States.  On  the  Atlantic  slope 
a  nugget,  weighing  4.35  pennyweights,  was  picked  up 
near  Plattsburg,  New  York,  while  minute  grains  of 
it  have  been  found  associated  with  gold  in  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  in  other  Southern 
States,  but  it  occurs  in  much  larger  quantities  on  the 
Pacific  slope,  especially  in  the  States  of  California 
and  Oregon  and  in  the  Territory  of  Idaho.  In  the 
first  State  it  has  occasionally  been  found  in  unusually 
large  lumps,  weighing  between  two  and  three  ounces. 
In  some  instances  in  the  hydraulic  mines,  for  nine 
ounces  of  gold  one  of  platinum  has  been  obtained  in 
small  grains.  "  On  the  Oregon  coast  the  proportion 
of  gold  to  platinum  in  the  placers  is  sometimes  five 
to  one,  and  in  rare  instances  the  amount  of  platinum 
equals  the  gold."  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  5.,  1883-1884,  p. 
576.)  Iridiomine  is  found  in  connection  with  plati- 
num, and  is  used  for  pointing  gold  pens. 


240  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Iridium.  —  In  1885  twenty-five  pounds  troy  of 
this  metal  was  mined  in  the  United  States,  princi- 
pally in  Oregon.  Iridium  is  found  in  intimate  rela- 
tions with  platinum,  of  wrhich  it  is  sometimes  an 
alloy,  but  more  frequently  with  the  latter  when  it 
accompanies  gold  in  placer-washings.  It  has  a  whit- 
ish color  and  luster  somewhat  like  steel,  and  is  also 
very  hard  and  one  of  the  heaviest  metals.  It  has  no 
affinity  for  acids  except  when  alloyed  with  osmium 
or  platinum,  and  to  melt  or  fuse  it  requires  greater 
heat  than  platinum.  It  is  used  in  making  what  are 
called  "  diamond  points  "  on  gold  pens  and  on  stylo- 
graphic  pencils,  and  for  a  similar  purpose  it  is  ap- 
plied to  instruments  used  by  surveyors  and  engi- 
neers ;  also  "  the  electrical  points  of  the  telegraphic 
apparatus  "  are  made  of  iridium.  To  avoid  rust  or 
corrosion,  hypodermic  needles  for  physicians  are 
now  made  of  gold  and  tipped  with  iridium.  It  is 
employed  in  making  portions  of  various  instruments 
where  delicate  operations  are  required,  such  as  the 
tiniest  scales  of  the  druggist,  and  under  certain  con- 
ditions it  makes  a  black  pigment  used  for  decorating 
fine  porcelain,  and  sometimes  when  alloyed  with 
platinum  it  is  used  for  chemical  purposes. 

Russia,  thus  far,  is  the  chief  producer  of  iridium. 
In  the  placer-mines  of  the  Ural  Mountains  it  is 
found  associated  with  gold  and  platinum,  and  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  relations  it  occurs  in  the  United 
States.  Though  in  very  limited  amounts,  iridium  oc- 
curs in  the  East  Indies,  in  Australia,  in  South  Amer- 


Nickel.  241 

ica,  and  in  Europe ;  in  addition  to  Russia,  small  quan- 
tities are  found  in  Germany,  France,  and  Spain,  and 
also  in  Canada.  In  our  country  the  principal  pro- 
ducers of  iridium  are  the  States  of  California  and 
Oregon.  The  indications  are  that  if  the  demand  for 
this  metal  would  warrant  the  effort,  the  miners  in 
California  would  "  prospect  "  for  it;  but  for  the  most 
part  they  are  ignorant  both  of  the  properties  and  of 
the  value  of  the  mineral,  and  in  consequence  it  is 
thrown  away  as  refuse.  On  the  authority  of  the 
State  mineralist,  Mr.  Hanks,  it  is  asserted  that  it  is 
found  amid  the  river-sands  of  the  northern  counties 
of  the  State.  "  Considerable  quantities  accumulate 
in  the  mints  and  assay -offices  obtained  from  the  cru- 
cibles in  melting  placer  gold."  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  S., 
1883-1884.,  p.  582.) 

Nickel. — The  two  metals — nickel  and  cobalt — are 
intimately  connected.  Nickel  is  a  grayish-white 
metal ;  it  is  extensively  distributed  over  the  world, 
and  is  also  found  in  meteoric  stones  ;  it  exists  in  the 
atmosphere  in  what  scientists  call  "  meteoric  dust," 
while  "  its  presence  in  the  sun  is  revealed  to  us 
by  the  spectroscope.  ...  It  probably  pervades  the 
solar  system."  Nickel  has  considerable  luster,  so 
that  "  when  pure  it  is  susceptible  of  a  brilliant  polish 
that  will  remain  untarnished  for  a  long  time."  When 
pure  it  has  been  manufactured  into  hollow-ware  as 
culinary  vessels.  And  experiments  made  during 
this  century  prove  that  it  is  adapted  to  numerous 
uses.  Among  these  is  the  important  one  of  its  alloy 


242  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

with  copper  and  zinc,  known  as  nickel  or  German 
silver,  first  introduced  in  Berlin,  as  a  substitute  for 
silver  because  less  expensive.  This  strong  and  white 
alloy  is  manufactured  into  table  furniture  to  take  the 
place  of  the  usual  silver-ware,  and  into  forks  and 
spoons,  etc.  The  art  of  nickel-plating  by  the  gal- 
vanic process  was  likewise  introduced ;  the  basis  be- 
ing the  nickel-silver  which  takes  and  holds  the  pure 
silver  itself.  It  is  also  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
glass,  giving  to  it  a  green  color. 

A  nickel  alloy  is  used  for  money  or  coin  in  Bel- 
gium and  in  the  German  Empire.  The  United 
States  also  use,  for  the  subsidiary  coins,  nickel  al- 
loyed with  copper,  first  in  the  cent,  which  contained 
12  parts  of  nickel  to  88  of  copper.  These  were 
withdrawn  or  called  in  in  1865,  and  instead  were  is- 
sued three  and  five  cent  pieces,  containing  each  25 
parts  of  nickel  to  75  of  copper.  The  ^/tree-cent 
pieces,  however,  are  no  longer  coined. 

Cobalt. — Cobalt  is  a  metal  of  a  reddish-gray  color, 
brittle  and  hard  to  melt ;  it  is  combined  with  other 
substances,  as  sulphur,  arsenic,  or  iron,  but  princi- 
pally with  nickel.  No  American  ore  is  worked  for 
cobalt  alone,  the  latter  being  secondary  in  impor- 
tance to  whatever  ore  it  is  associated  with,  be  it  nick- 
el, iron,  or  copper.  The  uses  of  cobalt  and  its  com- 
pounds are  quite  limited  ;  under  certain  conditions, 
as  the  oxide,  it  forms  blue  colors,  and  glass-manu- 
facturers use  it  in  giving  a  blue  tinge  to  that  article, 
and  potters  to  correct  the  yellow  tint  incident  to 


Nickel  and  Cobalt  Deposits.  243 

that  ware,  as  well  as  in  producing  blue  ware  or  for 
ornamentation.  Cobalt  oxide  is  much  used  for  all 
kinds  of  decorative  work  on  pottery,  and  a  cer- 
tain compound  containing  cobalt  produces  a  green 
color. 

Nickel  and  Cobalt  Deposits. — These  ores  in  com- 
bination occur  in  detached  localities  and  in  limited 
quantities  on  the  Atlantic  slope  from  New  England 
to  North  Carolina.  More  than  one  hundred  years 
ago  a  deposit  of  nickel  and  cobalt  ores  was  discov- 
ered near  Middletown,  Connecticut.  This  mine  was 
worked  specially  to  obtain  cobalt;  but  in  1820,  when 
1,000  pounds  of  the  product,  then  supposed  to  be 
cobalt,  were  sent  to  England  to  be  refined,  it  proved 
to  be  nickel,  in  connection  with  very  little  cobalt. 
Small  quantities  of  nickel-ore  have  been  discovered 
in  two  other  places  in  the  State — Torrington  and 
Litchfield ;  both  these  mines  have  been  long  since 
closed.  In  New  York  State  traces  of  cobalt  occur, 
in  connection  with  iron  pyrites  (sulphuret),  at  An- 
thony's Nose  on  the  Hudson  River. 

The  most  important  deposit  of  these  ores  thus 
far  found  east  of  the  Alleghanies  is  at  Lancaster  Gap, 
Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania.  The  ore  of  this 
mine,  after  certain  preparations,  is  shipped  to  Cam- 
den,  New  Jersey,  at  which  place  are  the  most  exten- 
sive and  complete  appliances  for  extracting  both  the 
nickel  and .  the  cobalt  from  this  mixed  ore.  In  the 
refining  process,  as  conducted  here,  nickel  was  ob- 
tained in  a  pure  state  (1872) — a  feat  of  chemistry 


244  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

never  before  attained.     We  have  already  mentioned 
the  uses  to  which  pure  nickel  is  applied. 

Nickel  is  found  also  in  Lehigh  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  in  Maryland,  though  in  small  quantities, 
and  in  connection  with  chrome-ores,  while  there  has 
been  discovered  little  more  than  a  trace  in  North 
Carolina.  In  Madison  County,  Missouri,  and  at  the 
mine  La  Motte,  cobalt  is  found  in  connection  with 
its  usually  accompanying  minerals ;  but  also,  with  the 
black  and  the  brown  oxides  of  manganese,  at  a  cer- 
tain depth  of  the  mine,  nickel  appears.  The  combi- 
nation of  nickel  and  cobalt  ores  occurs  in  New  Mex- 
ico, and  no  doubt  will  yet  be  found  in  Arizona,  in 
Colorado,  Nevada,  California,  and  Oregon.  The 
mode  in  which  these  ores  sometimes  appear  is  singu- 
lar. For  illustration,  in  Gunnison  County,  Colorado,  is 
a  deposit  of  cobalt  with  scarcely  a  trace  of  nickel,  but 
in  connection  with  a  number  of  other  kinds  of  ore, 
while  the  cobalt  itself  is  only  about  12  per  cent  of 
the  whole ;  and  again,  near  Silver  City,  in  the  same 
State,  is  a  deposit  of  nickel-ore,  mixed  with  little 
more  than  a  trace  of  cobalt.  The  State  of  Nevada 
has  a  number  of  deposits,  though  the  proportions  in 
those  of  the  nickel  and  cobalt  are  by  no  means  uni- 
form. Nickel-ore  has  likewise  been  discovered  in  a 
belt  of  country  in  California  extending  for  twenty- 
five  miles,  and  lying  east  of  the  higher  granitic 
mountains  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  near  Lake  Mono. 
This  ore  has  34  per  cent  of  nickel.  These  combined 
ores  also  occur  in  a  few  places  in  Southern  Cali- 


Antimony.  245 

fornia.  In  Douglas  County,  Oregon,  are  deposits  be- 
lieved to  be  large,  though  as  usual  scattered  over 
quite  an  extensive  area. 

Antimony. — This  metal  is  of  a  tin-white  color ;  it 
is  quite  brittle,  but  hard,  and  can  be  reduced  to  a 
powder.  It  rarely  occurs  in  a  metallic  or  native 
state,  but  in  combination  with  different  substances, 
oftener  with  sulphur  than  with  others.  Its  ores 
have  various  colors,  as  gray,  white,  or  red,  and  their 
many  shades.  Because  of  its  volatility,  and  great 
affinity  for  oxygen,  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  the  metal 
pure  from  its  ores.  Antimony,  when  an  alloy  with 
metals  that  are  softer  than  itself,  has  the  effect  of 
hardening  them.  This  property  has  been  utilized  in 
its  most  important  alloy  with  lead,  by  which  is  made 
type-metal.  It  has  the  peculiarity  of  expanding 
rather  than  contracting  when  cooling;  thus  when 
cast  into  type  the  lines  .are  made  sharp,  and,  if  the 
mold  is  perfect,  the  impression  of  the  letter  is  clear 
and  definite.  The  amount  of  antimony  in  type-metal 
varies;  sometimes  it  is  used  in  the  proportion  of  17 
to  83  of  lead  or  of  20  to  80,  according  to  the  kind  of 
type  to  be  produced.  In  stereotyped  plates  a  small 
quantity  of  tin  is  introduced.  Britannia-metal — 
which  can  be  plated  with  silver  so  perfectly — is 
composed  of  antimony  and  tin ;  the  proportion  of 
the  latter  being  81  per  cent  to  16  of  the  former,  with 
a  very  small  percentage  each  of  bismuth  and  copper. 

Compounds  of  antimony  are  used  extensively  in 
medicinal  preparations,  that  of  tartar-emetic  being 


246  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

one,  and  also  in  the  manufacture  of  pigments  for  col- 
ors in  painting,  and  in  hardening  or  vulcanizing  rub- 
ber. It  is  used  as  an  alloy  in  quite  different  propor- 
tions with  lead  and  tin.  But  we  can  not  go  into  detail. 
California,  Nevada,  and  Utah  Antimony.— The 
ores  of  antimony  occur  in  abundance  on  the  Pacific 
slope.  The  largest  deposit  yet  discovered  is  in 
Kern  County,  California,  and  it  was  the  first  one  of 
importance.  This  lode  is  immense,  being  thirty  or 
forty  feet  wide ;  but  the  ore  is  uneven  as  to  its 
value :  some  of  it  is  rich  and  some  is  of  a  much  lower 
grade.  The  vein  consists  of  quartz  and  gray  anti- 
mony, and  is  at  an  elevation  from  5,000  to  5,800  feet, 
as  though  it  had  been  pushed  up  from  the  great 
depths  below.  The  quartz  in  connection  with  this 
vein  is  said  to  contain  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  dol- 
lars' wrorth  of  gold  to  the  ton  in  addition  to  the  ore 
of  antimony.  In  San  Benito  County,  the  ore  found 
is  of  a  specially  high  grade,  averaging,  it  is  reported, 
nearly  40  per  cent.  The  ore  (stibite  of  the  mineralo- 
gist) of  antimony  is  found  in  some  half-dozen  places 
in  the  State ;  in  one  of  these  it  is  associated  with 
cinnabar,  the  ore  of  mercury  or  quicksilver,  but  upon 
the  whole  the  number  of  these  deposits  of  antimony 
appears  to  be  very  large.  But  the  reader  will  re- 
member that  the  industry  of  extracting  antimony 
from  native  ores  is  yet  in  its  infancy  in  this  country, 
as,  "up  to  the  year  1883,  but  little  metallic  antimony 
had  been  produced  in  the  United  States."  (Min.Res. 
of  U.  S.,  1883-1884.,  p.  650.) 


Bismuth.  247 

Nevada  has  numerous  localities  where  ores  of 
antimony  occur.  The  one  most  prominent  of  these 
thus  far  discovered  is  in  Humboldt  County,  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railway. 

Utah  is  credited  with  remarkable  deposits  of  the 
ore,  one  of  which  covers  450  acres,  and  is  estimated 
to  yield  1,000  tons  to  the  acre — "the  purest  anti- 
mony made,  and  promises  to  supply  the  world," 
while  the  ore  gives  an  unusual  percentage  of  me- 
tallic antimony.  (Resources  of  Utah,  pp.  39,  $j.) 

The  ore  lies  in  nearly  horizontal,  imbedded 
masses,  within  a  sandstone  formation,  and  at  an  ele- 
vation of  about  6,500  feet.  On  the  surfaces  or  slopes 
of  these  sandstone  hills  are  often  found  large  quanti- 
ties of  the  ore,  from  which  the  attritions  of  the  ele- 
ments have  worn  away  the  once  surrounding  strata ; 
sometimes  these  detached  masses  weigh  from  a  few 
pounds  up  to  tons. 

Antimony,  as  we  have  seen,  when  alloyed  with 
lead  hardens  the  latter.  In  one  instance — and  others 
may  yet  be  discovered — this  has  been  done  by  the 
ores  mingling  in  the  mine.  At  Melrose,  Alameda 
County,  California,  is  an  extensive  deposit  of  these 
combined  ores,  and  from  which  is  extracted  hard 
lead,  equal  to  that  made  artificially,  and  which  with 
equal  success  is  used  in  antimonial  alloys. 

Bismuth. — The  uses  of  bismuth  are  quite  limited 
in  extent  and  in  importance.  Some  of  these  consist 
in  making  fusible  alloys,  as  soft  solder,  and  plugs 
for  safety-valves  to  steam-boilers.  It  is  used  to  a 


248  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

small  extent  in  stereotype  metal,  and  as  an  amalgam 
for  silvering  glass  globes ;  in  combination  with  a 
small  portion  of  niter  or  saltpeter  it  makes  the  pearl- 
white  enamel  in  porcelain,  and  with  the  same  sub- 
stance in  a  higher  degree  it  is  used  to  fix  colors  in 
dyeing.  United  with  carbon  or  niter  it  is  also  em- 
ployed to  a  small  extent  as  medicine. 

On  the  Atlantic  slope  its  presence  in  Nature  is 
little  more  than  a  trace.  Thus,  it  is  found  in  Monroe 
County,  New  York,  and  near  Haddam,  Connecticut ; 
in  Virginia,  and  in  both  North  and  South  Carolina — 
but  in  no  instance  of  commercial  value,  being  merely 
of  mineralogical  interest. 

Bismuth  is  found  more  abundantly  in  the  West. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Beaver  City,  Utah,  several  veins 
occur  amid  limestone,  the  ore  being  quite  pure, 
though  it  assays  only  from  one  to  seven  per  cent  of 
metal.  In  Colorado  it  is  found  in  some  half-dozen 
counties,  as  Hinsdale,  Boulder,  San  Juan,  and  others. 
In  the  latter  it  appears  united  in  a  small  degree  with 
sulphur,  and  allied  partially  with  a  mixture  of  the 
ores  of  silver,  copper,  lead,  and  zinc.  This  combina- 
tion of  ores  often  furnishes  beautiful  crystal.  Small 
but  rare  specimens  of  bismuth  are  sometimes  found  ; 
these  are  usually  very  rich  in  the  metal.  It  is  known 
to  occur  in  two  places  in  Arizona,  the  one  near 
Phoenix,  the  other  near  Tucson ;  the  latter  deposit  is 
reported  as  containing  a  large  quantity.  Bismuth- 
ore  of  remarkable  purity  has  been  discovered,  it  is 
said,  on  a  slope  of  Mount  Vostovia,  Alaska. 


A  rsenic — A  lum.  2  49 

There  is  at  present  in  the  United  States  no  min- 
ing of  bismuth,  for  commercial  purposes,  though  it  is 
thought  by  some  experts  that  it  may  yet  be  utilized 
in  extracting  silver,  and  that  will  lead  to  "  prospect- 
ing" for  its  ore.  The  small  amount  thus  far  pro- 
duced from  native  ores  has  been  obtained  experi- 
mentally. 

Arsenic. — Metallic  arsenic  is  produced  in  only 
small  quantities.  It  is  a  metal  of  a  steel-gray  color 
and  brilliant  luster,  though  usually  dull  from  tarnish. 
It  sometimes  occurs  in  a  native  state,  but  it  com- 
bines in  the  ores  with  several  metals,  as  silver,  iron, 
gold,  nickel,  cobalt,  antimony,  and  also  with  sulphur. 
When  highly  heated,  it  rises  in  fumes  like  mercury 
or  quicksilver,  and  thus,  in  smelting  the  ores  with 
which  it  is  combined,  the  intense  heat  causes  much 
of  the  arsenic  to  pass  off  in  fumes.  Its  cheapness 
and  limited  uses  do  not  offer  an  inducement  to  col- 
lect it. 

It  is  used  as  a  hardening  element  in  lead  alloys  ; 
united  with  a  small  amount  of  sulphur,  it  is  em- 
ployed in  making  pigments,  and  also  in  giving  colors 
in  fire-works.  The  white  arsenic  of  commerce  is  the 
common  form,  and  from  which  are  derived  the  ar- 
senic compounds  used  in  the  arts.  "  In  the  gold  and 
silver  ores  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific 
coast,  arsenic  is  very  common,  but  is  regarded  only 
as  a  hindrance  in  extracting  these  metals."  (Mm. 
Res.  of  U.  S.,  1883-1884.,  p.  656.) 

Alum. — The  alum  in  domestic  use  is  chemically 


250  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

obtained  from  certain  clays  of  which  it  is  a  con- 
stituent, though  sometimes  it  is  found  in  small 
quantities  in  a  native  state,  in  which  it  is  more  or 
less  impure,  and  requires  refining  before  it  can  be 
used.  Hitherto,  American  manufacturers  of  alum 
have  depended  upon  imported  material  almost  en- 
tirely, such  as  aluminous  earths,  alum  clay,  and 
bauxite  (a  clay  impregnated  also  with  iron),  which 
are  imported  from  England,  Ireland,  and  France,  and 
from  Greenland— cryolite,  the  latter  a  peculiar  sub- 
stance, being  a  fluoride  of  sodium  and  aluminum. 

Native  Sources  of  Alum.  —  Clays  that  contain 
alum  as  a  constituent  occur  in  large  quantities  in 
New  Jersey,  Georgia,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Ohio, 
and  Indiana,  and  in  a  smaller  degree  in  some  other 
States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  These  clays 
when  analyzed  give  from  15  to  40  per  cent  of  alu- 
mina or  sulphate  of  alum,  while  the  foreign  av- 
erage between  45  and  50  per  cent. 

In  Colorado  small  quantities  of  alum  are  found 
in  several  places,  and  also  in  Grayson  County, 
Texas,  while  the  Territories  of  Arizona,  Utah,  and 
New  Mexico  have  alum  deposits ;  the  latter  is  pre- 
eminently rich  in  the  sulphate  of  alumina.  In  Cali- 
fornia are  a  number  of  springs  at  the  Geysers,  the 
waters  of  which  are  impregnated  with  alum.  At 
Sulphur  Bank,  Lake  County,  native  alum  is  found  in 
thick  incrustations  ;  in  many  of  the  placer  mining- 
pits  in  the  interior  of  the  State  it  often  crystallizes 
on  the  bed  of  the  rocks  laid  bare  in  the  process  of 


Aluminum.  251 

hydraulic  mining.     But  as  yet  little  or  no  attempt 
has  been  made  to  utilize  these  alum  deposits. 

Aluminum. — Aluminum  is  comparatively  one  of 
the  newly  discovered  metals,  consequently  its  useful 
properties  have  become  known  only  within  recent 
years.  This  metal  is  indirectly  the  base  of  alum, 
the  latter  being  the  sulphate  of  alumina,  whose  me- 
tallic base  is  aluminum  ;  the  latter  is  derived  from  the 
oxide  of  alumina,  which  is  a  constituent  of  certain 
clays.  "  Aluminum  is  a  shining,  white  metal,  having 
a  shade  between  silver  and  platinum,  and  is  very 
light,  being  only  one  fourth  as  heavy  as  silver  of  the 
same  bulk."  It  does  not  oxidize  or  rust  when  ex- 
posed to  moist  or  dry  air,  and,  being  quite  sonorous, 
is  often  used  for  making  bells.  "  Aluminum  is  of 
great  value  in  mechanical  dentistry,  being  light  and 
strong  and  not  affected  by  sulphur  in  the  food." 
(Knight" s  Mechanical  Dictionary^}  This  metal  is  used 
largely  in  the  manufacture  of  cheap  jewelry,  in  the 
form  of  an  alloy  with  copper — that  is,  ten  parts  of 
aluminum  to  ninety  of  copper.  This  alloy  is  a  hard, 
pale,  gold-colored  material ;  it  is  harder  than  bronze, 
and  takes  a  fine  polish  which  scarcely  tarnishes.  A 
small  quantity  of  aluminum  in  the  form  of  an  alloy 
of  iron,  when  put  in  a  crucible  of  melted  iron, 
causes  the  latter  to  flow  easily.  (Min.  Res.  of  U.  S., 
1885,  /.  392.)  Aluminum  bronze  is  available  for 
many  uses,  as  druggist's  weights,  thimbles,  table- 
furniture,  hardware,  door  knobs  and  handles,  chan- 
deliers, busts,  statuettes,  vases,  and  numberless 


252  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States, 

other  purposes,  among  which  are  the  works  of 
watches.  It  also  makes  alloys  with  silver,  iron, 
nickel,  and  zinc.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  cap 
or  apex  of  the  Washington  Monument,  at  the  Na- 
tion's capital,  is  pure  aluminum.  It  was  made  by 
Colonel  William  Frishmuth,  of  Philadelphia,  and  is 
in  the  form  of  a  four-sided  pyramid,  ten  inches  high, 
each  side  at  the  base  being  six  inches.  "  Until  re- 
cently the  aluminum  sold  in  the  United  States  was 
entirely  of  foreign  origin,  but  it  is  now  produced  in 
this  country  by  a  process  patented  by  Colonel  Frish- 
muth." (Min.  Res.  of  U.  S.,  1883-1884,  p.  658.) 

This  process  for  obtaining  aluminum  is  said  to 
be  much  less  expensive  and  more  effective  than  that 
which  is  obtained  abroad. 

Deposit  of  Alum-Rock. — The  indications  are  that 
the  United  States  will  soon  be  able  from  their  own 
resources  to  supply  aluminum  sufficient  for  the 
wants  of  the  people.  A  deposit  of  "  the  sulphate  of 
alumina,"  was  discovered  in  1884  in  Grant  County, 
in  Southwestern  New  Mexico.  This  immense  de- 
posit is  on  the  upper  course  of  the  Gila  River,  about 
forty  miles  from  Silver  City.  "  It  covers  an  area  of 
i, 600  acres,  and  may  be  termed  a  mountain  of  that 
material,  or  alum-rock.  It  presents  as  to  color  a 
pink,  gray,  and  yellow-tinged  substance,  containing 
an  extensive  crystallized  formation  of  what  proved 
after  chemical  examination  to  be  almost  pure  sulphate 
of  alumina,  with  traces  of  iron.  Some  of  the  cliffs 
rise  to  a  height  of  800  feet  above  the  bed  of  the  river, 


Mica.  253 

and  present  faces  of  this  substance,  hundreds  of  feet 
square  in  extent.  The  whole  is  the  result  of  volcanic 
upheaval,  as  clearly  indicated  by  the  lava-rock  that 
surrounds  it."  Four  samples  taken  from  different 
parts  of  the  deposit  and  analyzed  by  a  competent 
chemist — Dr.  Charles  J.  Bandman — give  as  an  aver- 
age 14.04  per  cent  of  oxide  of  aluminum,  and  of  sul- 
phate of  alumina  40.14.  The  deposit  is  practically 
inexhaustible  and  is  waiting  to  be  utilized.  The  lo- 
cation is  within  forty  miles  of  the  railway  at  Silver 
City,  but  it  is  in  the  midst  of  deep  forests  and 
rugged  mountains. 

Mica. — Mica  is  a  mineral  that  is  scaly  in  its  struct- 
ure, so  that  it  can  be  smoothly  split  into  elastic 
sheets  of  great  thinness ;  it  is  quite  translucent,  and 
the  very  pure  is  nearly  transparent.  Once  it  was 
known  as  "  Muscovite  glass,"  being  used  as  such  by 
the  old  Russians.  It  is.  common  in  connection  with 
granite  and  some  other  kinds  of  rocks,  as  it  is  an  "  es- 
sential constituent  of  granite,  gneiss,  and  mica  slate." 
In  appearance  when  in  a  pure  state  it  is  almost  col- 
orless, but  often  bordering  on  gray  or  light  green, 
while  the  impure  has  shades  of  a  darker  hue.  Its 
value  is  greatly  enhanced  when  in  sheets  of  suffi- 
cient size  to  be  available,  and  being  virtually  incom- 
bustible it  is  used  extensively  in  the  doors  of  stoves, 
also  for  lamp-shades  and  lanterns.  The  very  finest  is 
often  used  for  dial-plates  in  compasses.  An  immense 
wastage  is  incurred  in  the  trimming  of  the  sheets  for 
market ;  this  waste  is  somewhat  utilized,  when  it  is 


254  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

ground  to  minute  particles,  and  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  certain  styles  of  wall-paper,  in  giving  it  a 
glistening  effect.  These  are  only  a  few  of  the  uses 
to  which  it  is  applied. 

Mica ;  where  found. — A  mica  belt  extends  along 
the  Atlantic  slope,  from  Maine  to  the  extreme  south- 
ern end  of  the  Alleghanies.  "  It  is  found  in  bunch- 
es or  pockets,  in  connection  with  large  masses  of 
quartz  or  huge  crystallizations  of  feldspar."  With 
mica  are  often  associated  rare  and  valuable  minerals, 
such  as  beryl,  tourmaline,  garnets,  etc. 

In  Maine  rich  deposits  occur  in  a  number  of 
places,  such  as  at  Mount  Mica,  where  excellent 
sheets  have  been  obtained,  and  where  have  been 
found  an  unusual  number  of  the  "  famous  gem  tour- 
maline." In  New  Hampshire,  southwest  of  the 
White  Mountains,  commences  a  mica  belt  that  ex- 
tends in  a  southerly  direction.  "  Throughout  that 
region  the  granitic  veins  are  most  conspicuous  ob- 
jects, and  often  they  may  be  seen  from  miles  away 
cropping  out  along  the  hill-sides."  Here  at  intervals 
are  deposits  of  mica.  In  one  locality — Alstead— 
sheets  have  been  mined  that  were  nearly  four  feet 
across.  This  mine  has  been  worked  forty  years, 
while  another  in  the  same  belt  has  been  for  more 
than  three  fourths  of  a  century  ;  while  there  are  also 
large  numbers  of  similar  deposits  more  or  less  exten- 
sive within  the  same  limits.  Immediately  south  in 
the  States  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  the  belt 
extends  within  similar  granitic  veins.  But  in  the  lat- 


North  Carolina  Mica.  255 

ter  State  are  instances  where  the  mica  deposits,  as  at 
Glastonbury  and  other  places,  are  worked  more  to 
obtain  feldspar  than  for  mica. 

In  the  States  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania 
discoveries  of  mica  have  been  made,  and  also  a  few 
isolated  attempts  at  mining.  But  a  remarkable  de- 
posit at  South  Mountain  in  the  latter  State  is  said  to 
have  produced  pieces  of  mica  weighing  from  nine- 
teen to  twenty-seven  pounds,  some  of  which  "  could 
be  split  1 60  times  to  the  inch."  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  S., 
1882,  p.  583.} 

Maryland  has  a  number  of  mica  deposits  in  How- 
ard and  Montgomery  Counties.  These  mines  are 
more  or  less  scattered  within  that  region,  one  of 
which  is  twelve  miles  north  of  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton. The  belt  crosses  over  into  Virginia,  and  mines 
have  been  worked  to  some  extent  in  several  locali- 
ties along  the  belt  line.  Near  Amelia  Court-House 
it  is  associated  with  the  mineral  beryl.  Mica  is 
found  in  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Eastern  Ala- 
bama, but  as  yet  mines  have  scarcely  been  opened. 

North  Carolina  Mica. — This  State  contains  the 
richest  portion  of  the  Alleghany  mica  belt,  and  here 
the  industry  of  mining  it  has  attained  the  greatest 
success.  The  deposits  are  numerous  in  the  highlands 
or  mountains  in  the  western  part  of  the  State ;  the 
counties  in  which  the  mines  are  the  richest,  and  the 
production  greatest,  are  Yancey,  Mitchell,  and 
Macon.  "  Mica  is  found  in  ledges  [veins]  of  very 
coarse  granite.  Many  of  the  plates  are  of  remark- 


256  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

able  size,  reaching  three  and  even  four  feet  in  diam- 
eter. .  .  .  This  region  furnishes  the  bulk  of  this  min- 
eral to  the  world's  markets."  (Handbook  of  North 
Carolina,  pp.  //p,  180.) 

Rocky  Mountain  Mica. — When  we  leave  the  Al- 
leghanies  for  the  West,  we  meet  with  only  one  de- 
posit of  mica,  and  that  is  in  the  Northern  Peninsula 
of  the  State  of  Michigan,  till  we  reach  the  Black 
Hills  of  Dakota.  Here  amid  granite  of  very  coarse 
crystallization  mica  occurs,  and  here  it  is  mined  in 
unusually  large  sheets ;  in  this  region  in  almost  every 
instance  it  is  associated  with  tin  (p.  230).  While  the 
indications  are  that  this  entire  region  is  rich  in  mica 
as  to  quantity,  it  is  no  less  remarkable  for  its  clear- 
ness and  perfection  in  texture.  In  Wyoming  Terri- 
tory it  occurs  plentifully  in  the  Wind  River  country, 
and  in  several  places  along  the  mountain-ranges  in 
Laramie  County.  The  grade  is  very  fine,  being  al- 
most transparent,  and  the  sheets  quite  large.  In  Ida- 
ho, in  the  Cceur  d'Alene  district,  mica  also  abounds. 

In  Colorado,  thirty-five  miles  south  of  Denver,  is 
a  deposit  of  mica  of  fair  quality  and  quite  extensive  in 
size,  while  it  is  reported  as  having  been  discovered 
in  other  portions  of  the  State.  New  Mexico  has 
also  mica-mines  in  the  vicinity  of  Las  Vegas,  the 
capital  of  San  Miguel  County,  and  also  in  several 
other  localities,  but  as  yet  undeveloped.  Arizona 
has  deposits  likewise,  and  Nevada  has  the  credit  of 
possessing  several  deposits  of  salable  mica,  all  ready 
for  future  mining  and  use. 


Asbestus.  257 

California  has  deposits  in  nearly  every  county  in 
the  State  ;  it  is  said  the  most  important  of  these  are 
in  the  Salmon  Mountains,  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  the  State.  Oregon  and  Alaska  have  also  their 
share  of  mica,  but  held  in  reserve  for  future  use. 

The  reason  that  these  numerous  deposits  of  mica, 
in  such  diverse  localities  in  the  Union,  are  not  more 
fully  developed,  is,  that  comparatively  little  of  it  is 
needed  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  people  at  the  pres- 
ent time ;  but  in  the  future  there  may  be  discovered 
other  uses  for  it  of  which  we  now  little  dream. 

Asbestus.  —  This  mineral  is  a  variety  of  horn- 
blende, and  is  unaffected  by  fire.  It  often  occurs  in 
long,  delicate  fibers,  or  fibrous  masses,  usually  of  a 
white  or  gray  color,  but  sometimes  greenish  or  red- 
dish. The  finer  varieties  have  been  wrought  into 
gloves  and  incombustible  cloth,  while  the  longer  is 
sometimes  used  in  making  ropes.  It  is  found  in  the 
United  States  in  very  many  localities,  but  always  in 
small,  isolated  deposits  or  pockets ;  in  consequence, 
only  a  limited  number  of  these  are  mined,  so  that 
in  1884  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  S.),  in  the  whole  Union, 
only  about  500  short  tons  were  taken  out,  and  those 
from  numerous  places.  It  occurs  occasionally  in 
Massachusetts,  as  in  Brighton,  Pelham,  and  Windsor ; 
in  Richmond  County,  New  York  ;  near  Brunswick, 
New  Jersey  ;  and  farther  south  in  small  deposits,  here 
and  there,  along  the  Atlantic  slope,  from  Pennsyl- 
vania to  Georgia.  On  the  Pacific  slope  it  is  found 

under  similar  conditions,   and    is   reported  to  exist 
18 


258  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

in  Dakota,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  Utah,  and  Nevada. 
The  American,  thus  far  discovered,  is  usually  of  a 
short  fiber,  being-  also  somewhat  brittle  and  harsh. 
This  class  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  fire-proof 
safes,  and  also  in  that  of  fire-proof  paints,  cement,  for 
steam-packing,  fire-proof  enamel  for  walls,  and  drop- 
curtains  in  theatres.  It  has  also  been  introduced  for 
the  purpose  of  insulating  electric  wires. 


XXV, 

PRECIOUS  STONES. 

ANY  intelligent  person,  enumerating  the  natural 
resources  of  the  United  States,  will  scarcely  fail  to 
notice  their  peculiar  features — their  wonderful  vari- 
ety ;  their  immensity  and  presence  in  so  many  locali- 
ties ;  their  universal  and  practical  use  in  promoting 
the  people's  comfort  and  material  progress,  as  if  they 
were  intended  to  make  the  various  sections  of  the 
country  dependent  upon  one  another,  and  induce  the 
people  themselves  to  cherish  the  interests  of  the  en- 
tire Union  as  mutual.  When  we  compare  our  native 
precious  stones  as  a  natural  resource,  how  great  is 
the  contrast  with  other  countries !  How  meager 
they  are,  both  in  number  and  quality,  and  in  ostensi- 
ble value !  In  the  Old  World  diamonds  and  other 
jewels,  of  great  size  and  pure  quality,  are  used  only 
for  show  and  ostentation,  and  valued  as  such  by 
royal  families  or  heads  of  empire ;  the  finest  dia- 
monds and  gems  in  the  world  are  to-day  "  crown- 
jewels." 

When  taken  in  the  aggregate,  we  learn  the  com- 
parative value  of  the  thirty-one  varieties  of  Ameri- 


260  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

can  native  precious  stones,  sold  in  one  year  (1884)  to 
be  used  as  jewelry,  and,  for  the  same  year,  the  value 
of  the  precious  stones  imported — the  former  was 
$28,650  and  the  latter  (not  set)  $8,712,315.  Among 
the  native  American  stones,  the  diamonds  were  val- 
ued at  only  $800. 

Diamonds. — The  most  precious  of  stones,  the  dia- 
mond, is  found  in  the  United  States  in  very  limited 
quantities,  of  small  size  and  seldom  of  first  water. 
They  have  been  picked  up  occasionally,  in  several 
and  widely  separated  localities,  but  in  no  place  have 
they  occurred  in  sufficient  numbers  to  warrant  for 
them  an  extended  search.  Many  small  specimens 
have  been  found  in  gravel-beds  or  in  alluvial  soil. 
One  of  these  is  represented  as  very  beautiful  and  of 
first  water  or  quality ;  yet  it  was  worth  only  a  hun- 
dred dollars.  Another  was  of  a  yellowish  color,  an- 
other of  greenish,  and  still  another  was  large  but  of 
a  dark  color ;  the  latter  was  destroyed  by  ignorant 
laborers  who  were  trying  to  break  it :  the  fragments 
proved  it  to  be  a  diamond. 

Geologists  have  noticed  that  itacolumite — "  flexi- 
ble sandstone " — which  has  been  regarded  as  the 
matrix  of  the  diamond,  occurs  in  certain  localities  in 
South  and  in  North  Carolina,  and  in  Georgia ;  and, 
in  the  vicinity  of  this  flexible  sandstone,  numerous 
small  specimens  of  the  diamond  have  been  obtained. 
"  The  series  or  group  "  (of  flexible  sandstone)  "  is  an 
interesting  one,  from  its  supposed  relation  to  the  dia- 
monds that  have  been  found  in  this  State  and  in 


Emerald  and  Beryl.  261 

South  Carolina  as  well  as  in  North  Carolina."  (Com- 
monwealth of  Georgia,  pp.  80,  140.)  The  largest  native 
diamond  thus  far  known  in  the  United  States  was 
found  by  a  laborer  when  digging  in  the  earth  at 
Manchester,  Virginia,  near  the  James  River.  This 
gem,  being  a  little  off  color,  is  valued  at  only  $400. 
There  have  been  numerous  instances  in  which  dia- 
monds have  been  found  in  the  Union,  as  in  California 
and  Nevada.  The  latter  have  all  been  obtained  in 
gravels  or  gold-washings  ;  but  these  afford  no  clew  as 
to  where  they  originated. 

Miscellaneous  Stones. — There  are  known  to  ex- 
ist in  the  United  States  more  than  a  hundred  vari- 
eties of  what  are  termed  precious  stones.  About 
ninety  of  these  are  susceptible  of  receiving  a  polish, 
which  renders  them  suitable  as  ornaments ;  they  are 
also  of  numerous  shades  of  color.  We  will  notice, 
but  very  briefly,  the  better  known  and  more  valu- 
able of  these  "  stones,"  their  characteristics,  and 
where  found. 

Emerald  and  Beryl. — These  two  are  almost  iden- 
tical, the  difference  being  in  the  origin  of  their  color : 
the  first  by  the  oxide  of  chrome,  the  second  by  the 
oxide  of  iron.  Their  colors  vary  from  a  lively,  beau- 
tiful green  to  a  dark  green,  while  some  are  rose-color 
and  greenish  yellow,  and  even  deep  blue.  They  are 
found  in  a  number  of  places  in  Maine,  in  Connecti- 
cut, in  Massachusetts,  and  in  Pennsylvania,  but' much 
more  frequently  in  North  Carolina. 

Hiddenite.— In   Alexander  County,  North   Caro- 


262  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

lina,  and  thus  far  nowhere  else,  is  found  an  emerald- 
green  gem  known  to  jewelers  as  Hiddenite,  from  the 
name  of  the  discoverer — W.  E.  Hidden.  The  crys- 
tals are  found  in  nests  or  pockets,  but  not  in  veins. 
In  these  small  deposits  are  also  often  found  emer- 
alds, and  beryls  in  connection  with  this  lately  (1881) 
discovered  jewel.  "  Hiddenite  is  the  only  strictly 
American  gem."  This  stone  has  been  mined  for  by 
sinking  shafts,  and,  because  of  its  unusual  beauty  and 
rareness,  is  in  great  demand,  far  beyond  the  supply. 
"  It  is  found  in  the  form  of  slender  crystals,  having 
emerald  .color,  but  totally  different  in  all  other  re- 
spects from  emerald  proper."  It  possesses  "  hard- 
ness, beauty,  and  brilliancy,"  while  its  fine  color  is 
derived  from  the  oxide  of  chromium ;  its  basic  ele- 
ment is  lithia^ui  that  of  the  emerald  is  glucina,  while 
both  are  silicates  of  alumina.  (Mr.  Hidden,  in  South- 
ern Geologist,  and  Handbook  of  North  Carolina,  p.  201.) 

Topaz  is  found  in  Maine,  in  Arizona,  New  Mex- 
ico, and  in  Southern  Colorado  at  Pike's  Peak.  At 
the  latter  place  fine  specimens  have  recently  been 
found ;  they  are  of  a  beautiful  light  blue  color  and 
quite  clear.  These  are  deemed  equal  to  those  of  the 
same  size  from  Siberia.  Utah  has  topaz  crystals, 
often  of  a  wine-color  and  yellow,  but  generally  lim- 
pid white ;  they  are  usually  small. 

Sapphires  and  Rubies. — These  are  closely  allied 
with  corundum.  They  occur  in  New  Jersey,  and  in 
Macon  County,  North  Carolina,  where  about  fifty 
gems  were  found.  "  The  colors  were  rich  blue,  vio- 


Tourmaline.  263 

let-blue,  ruby-red,  light  red,  pink,  and  yellow,  and 
others  were  colorless."  The  richest  locality  for 
sapphires  in  the  United  States  is  near  Helena,  Mon- 
tana, where  they  are  associated  with  garnets.  Near 
Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  in  Southern  Colorado,  and 
in  Arizona,  they  are  found  in  the  sands ;  in  color, 
sapphire,  blue,  or  ruby-red. 

Garnets. — Garnets  of  moderate  gem  value  occur 
in  New  Hampshire.  Fine  specimens  have  been  also 
obtained  at  Round  Mountain,  in  Maine,  and  near 
Avondale,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  at  Stony  Point, 
North  Carolina.  The  finest  ones  for  gems  are  from 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Colorado,  and  Nevada. 
These  are  called  "  rubies,"  the  blood-red  color  being 
the  favorite,  with  the  hyacinth-yellow  ;  they  have 
the  peculiarity  of  appearing  specially  beautiful  in 
artificial  light.  Garnets  are  also  found  near  Fort 
Wrangel,  Alaska. 

Tourmaline. — The  richest  locality  for  this  crystal 
thus  far  known  is  in  Androscoggin  County,  Maine. 
These  specimens  are  usually  colorless,  but  often  light 
pink,  light  blue,  bluish  pink,  light  golden,  and  in 
some  other  localities  the  colors  are  green  and  red. 
When  cut  as  gems,  some  of  these  colors  assume  a 
darker  hue.  Tourmaline  is  sparingly  found  in  New 
York,  and  in  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania. 

Obsidian. — This  is  a  kind  of  glass  produced  by 
volcanic  influence.  It  occurs  in  the  United  States 
within  the  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  in 
their  vicinity.  Numbers  of  a  smoky,  transparent 


264  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

variety  with  a  greenish  tinge,  have  been  found  near 
Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico.  It  is  in  the  form  of  rounded 
pebbles,  often  an  inch  in  diameter.  Another  variety 
has  been  discovered  on  Gunnison  River,  Colorado ; 
and  still  another,  of  light  gray  and  clear,  concentric 
structure,  has  been  found  near  Georgetown  in  the 
same  State.  Just  across  the  line  in  California,  in 
Owen  Valley,  occurs  an  obsidian  of  a  red  color, 
banded  with  alternate  layers  of  black  and  brown. 
Fine  varieties  and  very  abundant  are  also  found  near 
Silver  Peak,  Nevada.  Yellowstone  Park  contains 
obsidian,  often  in  fine  black  specimens,  and  others 
mottled  black  and  brown,  in  small  layers.  American 
obsidian  is  but  little  used  as  jewelry. 

Amethyst. — This  stone  is  usually  of  a  light  pur- 
ple color  bordering  on  a  pink,  but  it  has  compara- 
tively little  value  as  a  gem.  Amethysts  are  found  in 
numerous  places  in  New  England  and  in  Delaware 
and  Chester  Counties,  Pennsylvania.  Near  Clayton, 
Georgia,  have  been  obtained  some  rare  specimens. 
"  At  times  these  have  within  them  large  liquid  cavi- 
ties containing  movable  bubbles  of  gas."  This  stone 
occurs  more  in  the  West  than  in  the  East.  "  The 
Lake  Superior  variety  is  spotted  with  the  coat- 
ing of  red,  moss-like  markings,  giving  them  if  cut  a 
moss-amethyst  effect."  In  the  Yellowstone  National 
Park  "  amethysts  line  the  hollow  trunks  of  agatized 
trees,  varying  in  color  from  a  light  pink  to  a  dark 
purple/'  In  the  main  valley  of  the  Yellowstone  are 
thousands  of  silicified  trees.  "  In  some  cases  the 


Serpentine  (Jeweler's).  265 

structure  of  the  tree  is  well  preserved,  and  in  other 
cases  agatized  or  opalized,  and  lined  with  crystals 
of  beautiful  amethysts."  Wisconsin,  Texas,  Nevada, 
ajid  Colorado  abound  in  amethysts. 

Agate  and  Chalcedony. — There  is  an  intimate 
connection  between  agate  and  chalcedony,  both  be- 
ing uncrystallized  quartz,  but  "  the  colors  of  the 
agate  are  delicately  arranged  in  stripes  or  bands,  or 
are  blended  in  clouds,"  while  the  "  chalcedony  is 
translucent  and  usually  of  a  whitish  color,  and  of 
a  luster  nearly  like  wax."  When  the  stripes  of 
the  agate  are  parallel,  it  is  known  as  onyx ;  when 
the  chalcedony  is  flesh-red,  it  is  called  carnelian. 
Agates  are  found  in  many  places  along  the  Con- 
necticut River;  in  Delaware  and  Chester  Counties, 
Pennsylvania ;  and  in  a  number  of  localities  in  North 
Carolina.  An  unusual  abundance  of  agate  in  all  its 
varieties  occurs  on  the  shores  around  Lake  Superior 
and  on  the  upper  Mississippi.  Many  very  beautiful 
specimens  are  obtained  in  different  parts  of  Colorado 
and  throughout  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  Arizona, 
New  Mexico,  and  in  California.  The  moss-agate  vari- 
ety occurs  in  North  Carolina  and  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  in  large  numbers  in  Humboldt  County,  Nevada. 

Serpentine  (Jeweler's).  —  This  stone  is  often 
greenish  in  color,  but  mottled  with  shades  like  a  ser- 
pent's skin.  "  The  finer  varieties  are  translucent  and 
of  different  shades  of  rich  oil-green  color,  usually 
dark,  but  sometimes  pale "  (Prof.  Dana).  These 
grades  are  designated  "  precious,"  and  jewelers  cut 


266  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

them  into  various  forms  according  to  taste,  and  as 
such  they  are  worn  as  ornaments.  Beautiful  speci- 
mens of  a  dark-green  color,  but  in  limited  numbers, 
are  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Newburyport,  Massachu- 
setts ;  while  others,  whose  prevailing  color  is  yel- 
low, occur  at  Montville,  in  the  same  State.  These 
stones,  but  small  in  numbers,  also  occur  in  the  States 
of  Maine,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Maryland,  and  in  quite  large  numbers  in  North 
Carolina,  but  of  a  low  grade  of  texture. 

Jade  of  a  dark-green  color  has  been  obtained 
from  the  natives  in  Alaska.  It  is  supposed  to  exist 
in  places  somewhere  to  the  east  of  Point  Barrow. 

Opal. — Fine  opal,  without  any  opalescence  or  play 
of  colors,  is  found  in  Georgia  and  in  North  Caro- 
lina ;  and  common  opal,  of  greenish  or  yellowish 
white,  with  vitreous  luster,  occurs  in  Lebanon  Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania  ;  also  in  Colorado  and  in  many  places 
on  the  Pacific  slope,  and  in  Idaho,  have  been  found 
"specimens  showing  play  of  colors."  (Mm.  Res. 
of  U.  S.,  1882-1884.,  Precious  Stones.) 

Jasper. — This  stone  is  of  various  colors,  and  is 
found  in  many  localities  in  the  Union.  It  is  an 
opaque,  impure  variety  of  quartz  of  red,  yellow, 
green,  and  other  colors,  and  is  susceptible  of  a  pol- 
ish. It  is  marked  sometimes  by  regular  stripes.  This 
stone  has  been  found  in  North  Carolina  in  several 
localities,  having  the  texture  known  to  jewelers  as 
"  cat's-eyes,"  and  also  in  the  same  form  in  Rhode  Isl- 
and. Jasper  occurs  in  Kansas,  California,  and  an 


Jet. —  Turquoise.  267 

unusually  large  bed  has  recently  been  reported  in 
Arizona.  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  S.,  1884.,  p.  761.)  This 
stone  was  once  used  as  a  gem,  but  has  passed  out  of 
fashion,  and  "  is  very  little  used  in  the  arts  for  so 
common  a  stone." 

Jet. — This  is  not  a  stone,  but  a  variety  of  lignite 
or  mineral  coal.  It  is  of  compact  texture  and  vel- 
vety black  color,  and  withal  susceptible  of  a  good 
polish.  It  is  often  used  as  "  mourning  ornaments," 
but  as  such  is  nearly  superseded  by  black  onyx.  It 
is  found  in  quite  large  numbers  in  the  lignite  "  coal- 
bearing  rocks  of  Colorado." 

Amazon-Stone. — This  is  a  variety  of  feldspar  of 
a  verdigris-green  color,  found  originally  near  the 
Amazon  River— hence  the  name ;  it  is  opaque,  but 
takes  a  fine  polish.  This  stone  has  recently  been 
found  at  Pike's  Peak,  Colorado,  and  it  has  a  wide 
reputation  for  its  rich  green-colored  crystals,  though 
it  is  not  used  extensively  as  a  gem. 

Turquoise. — A  Persian  stone  that  found  its  way 
into  Europe  through  Turkey — hence  the  name.  In 
color  it  is  of  a  peculiar  bluish-green,  and  is  suscep- 
tible of  a  very  fine  polish.  Within  recent  years  it  has 
been  discovered  in  several  places  in  New  Mexico,  at 
Mineral  Park,  Arizona,  and  also  in  Nevada.  The 
color  of  the  gems  found  in  Arizona  is  nearly  all  of 
an  apple-  or  pea-green  shade,  though  occasionally 
blue.  The  estimated  gem-value  of  the  turquoise  is 
not  very  high. 


XXVI. 

CLAYS. 

FROM  time  immemorial  man  has  used  clays  in 
forming  useful  vessels,  and  in  the  course  of  genera- 
tions he  discovered  and  utilized  the  various  grades 
that  make  the  different  kinds  of  ware,  from  the  com- 
monest to  the  most  delicate  porcelain.  The  depos- 
its of  clay  from  which  the  ordinary  brick  is  made 
are  so  numerous  and  common  throughout  the  Union 
that  they  may  be  classed  almost  as  universal.  The 
clays  of  these  beds  often  differ  in  grade :  while  some 
are  suited  only  to  the  manufacture  of  bricks  having 
a  coarse  texture,  others  are  susceptible  of  producing 
those  of  a  finer  and  smoother  quality,  and  also  com- 
mon earthenware  and  terra-cotta.  The  deposits  of 
these  clays  are  so  widely  distributed  and  so  acces- 
sible, that  in  respect  to  them  further  detail  is  un- 
necessary. 

Fire-Clay. — The  quality  in  clay  that  enables  it  to 
resist  heat  is  termed  refractory  ;  this  is  the  valuable 
element  in  fire-clays.  These  have  different  grades  in 
their  texture  :  some  are  coarse  and  harsh,  and  some 
fine  and  smooth.  The  former  are  intimately  asso- 


The  Great  Clay-belt.  269 

elated  with  the  bituminous  coal-measures,  and  are 
found  underlying  the  seams ;  the  latter  occur  outside 
these  measures,  and  have  apparently  a  different  ori- 
gin. We  shall  not  further  notice  the  former,  as  the 
reader  will  understand  that  beds  of  this  clay  almost 
everywhere  underlie  the  seams  of  coal.  The  clay 
derived  from  these  beds  is  specially  adapted  for 
manufacturing  fire-bricks,  which  are  used  in  lining 
ranges,  stoves,  walls  of  furnaces,  etc.,  where  great 
heat  is  required.  In  addition,  this  clay  is  also  util- 
ized in  making  drainage-pipe,  stoneware,  and  numer- 
ous other  useful  domestic  articles.  We  shall  now 
treat  of  the  clays  outside  the  coal-measures. 

Massachusetts  has  deposits  of  fire-clay  at  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard,  and  Vermont  an  extensive  bed  of 
the  same  near  Brandon,  and  also  at  Bennington ;  Con- 
necticut has  kaolinite  in  Litchfield  County,  and  New 
York,  in  Dutchess  County ;  but  New  Jersey  has  thus 
far  the  credit  of  possessing  the  most  extensive  depos- 
its of  excellent  fire-clay  in  the  Union.  This  belt  com- 
mences in  the  eastern  middle  of  the  State  and  ex- 
tends in  a  southwesterly  direction  from  the  vicinity 
of  Perth  Amboy  to  Trenton,  and  thence  below  on 
the  Delaware.  The  entire  area  of  the  belt  is  320 
square  miles.  This  formation  is  composed  of  "  a 
series  of  strata  of  fire-clay,  potter's  clay,  brick- 
clay,  sand  and  lignitic  clay."  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  S., 
1882,  p.  465.)  This  State  produces  about  three 
fourths  of  all  the  articles  made  from  that  clay  in  the 
United  States.  Passing  southward,  we  find  Pennsyl- 


270  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

vania  having  numerous  and  extensive  beds  of  fire- 
clay, among  which  is  an  eight-foot  vein  at  Saltsburg, 
recently  discovered.  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  a 
portion  of  North  Carolina,  have  fire-clays  in  many 
places,  but  all  associated  with  coal-measures.  A  de- 
posit of  fire-clay  is  reported  (1885)  at  Evansville,  In- 
diana, and  "  a  fine  pottery-clay  in  Lincoln  Parish, 
Louisiana." 

Kaolin. — This  clay  is  defined  as  the  decomposi- 
tion of  feldspar,  which  is  composed  of  "  silica,  alumi- 
na, and  potash."  The  name  is  derived  from  a  Chi- 
nese word  —  kaoling — designating  the  clay  from 
which  they  make  their  famous  china-ware.  In 
North  Carolina  kaolin  is  found  abundantly  from  one 
end  of  the  State  to  the  other ;  valuable  for  making 
china  and  other  wares,  for  paper-manufacturing,  and 
for  fire-brick.  ..."  This  kaolin,  or  white  earth,  had 
been  exposed,  like  snow-banks,  in  huge  dumps  and 
open  cuts  by  an  ancient  people,  the  mound-builders, 
a  thousand  or  two  years  ago."  (Handbook  of  North 
Carolina,  p.  /(£?.)  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  more 
than  two  hundred  years  ago  a  quantity  of  this  clay 
was  sent  to  England,  where  great  exertions  were  in 
progress  to  discover  somewhere  in  the  king's  domin- 
ions a  clay  similar  to  that  from  which  the  Chinese 
made  their  delicate  ware,  just  then  introduced  into  Eu- 
rope. Also  in  South  Carolina,  in  the  vicinity  of  Aiken 
Court-House,  "  large  beds  of  kaolin-clay,  free  from 
grit  or  other  impurities  and  of  great  whiteness,  are 
found  intercalated,  or  between  the  layers  of  sands 


Porcelain- Clay,  or  Kaolin.  271 

.  .  .  this  material  being  used  as  porcelain-clay  and 
for  glazing  by  paper-manufacturers,"  and  in  a  num- 
ber of  other  places  in  the  State.  Some  of  these 
clays  are  beautifully  mottled  with  various  colors, 
and  harden  when  exposed  to  the  atmosphere.  (Re- 
sources of  South  Carolina,  /.  120.)  Extensive  beds  of 
white  porcelain  and  pottery  clays  occur  in  Georgia 
in  a  number  of  places,  and  common-ware  clays  in  the 
Tennessee  Valley  and  in  Kentucky.  In  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  State  of  Mississippi  yellow  and 
cream-colored  clays  are  common  in  the  sand-forma- 
tion ;  in  Texas,  they  are  in  connection  with  coal- 
measures,  while  "  a  large  deposit  of  kaolin  produced 
by  the  decomposition  of  granite  "  occurs  in  Pulaski 
County,  Arkansas,  and  beds  of  pottery-clay  in  other 
places  ;  the  latter  is  also  found  near  the  center  of  the 
State  of  Louisiana. 

Mississippi  Valley  Clays. — Minnesota  has  an  ex- 
tensive deposit  of  kaolin  derived  from  decomposed 
granite,  and  Wisconsin  has  an  area  of  about  750 
square  miles  where  beds  of  kaolin  are  found.  Indi- 
ana is  the  fortunate  possessor  of  fine  porcelain-clays, 
which  are  used  extensively  in  manufacturing  white 
ware  and  also  for  "  encaustic  tiles  of  rare  beauty  and 
excellence,  equally  vitrified  and  as  good  as  those 
produced  in  the  best  factories  of  England  and 
France."  Encaustic  or  enameled  tiles  of  equal  grade 
are  made  from  porcelain  or  pottery  clays  obtained 
in  the  vicinity  of  Zanesville,  Ohio,  "  but  parts  of  the 
mixture  are  from  abroad."  These  glazed  tiles  are 


272  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  *States. 

used  for  hearths,  halls,  vestibules  in  large  buildings, 
as  churches,  etc.,,  and  for  miscellaneous  ornamenta- 
tion. Some  of  these  clays  have  flint  or  silica  as  an 
ingredient,  and  are  utilized  in  making  various  arti- 
cles, such  as  drain-pipe  and  common  earthenware. 

Missouri  has  several  valuable  deposits  of  kaolin 
and  an  excellent  fire-clay,  especially  in  the  coun- 
ties of  St.  Louis  and  Montgomery.  The  latter  clay 
is  valuable,  as  from  it  are  made  pots  used  in  glass- 
making.  These  pots  are  carefully  constructed,  or 
"  built/'  as  the  workmen  say.  In  them  are  put  the 
ingredients  of  which  the  glass  is  to  be  composed, 
and  the  pots  are  subjected  to  intense  heat  in  order 
to  melt  the  mixture.  There  are  a  number  of  beds  of 
kaolin  in  that  State.  "  This  material  has  been  thor- 
oughly tested,  and  from  it  has  been  produced  ele- 
gant porcelain-ware."  In  Jefferson  County  is  found 
a  white  clay,  known  as  ball  clay ;  in  one  place  it  is 
practically  inexhaustible;  Irom  this  are  manufact- 
ured queen's-ware  and  other  articles  of  use.  (Hand- 
book of  Missouri,  article  Clays) 

Rocky  Mountain  Clays. — Fire-clay  is  found  in 
Wyoming  Territory,  along  the  Laramie  and  Wind 
River  Valleys,  and  in  various  other  localities.  Near 
Helena,  Montana,  are  deposits  of  fire-clay,  but  con- 
nected with  the  lignite  coal-measures.  "  It  is  found 
in  many  places  in  great  purity,  and  in  extensive  beds, 
and  suitable  for  a  large  number  of  purposes,  the  sup- 
ply being  abundant."  Utah  has,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Salt  Lake  City,  several  deposits  of  fire-clay ;  and  in 


Glass  Materials.  273 

California  and  Oregon  are  numerous  beds  of  kaolin, 
but  the  quality  of  the  article  is  not  of  the  finest. 
These  have  been  somewhat  utilized,  but  the  much 
greater  portion  remains  undeveloped.  "  In  Wash- 
ington Territory  remarkable  specimens  of  kaolin 
have  been  found ;  and  clay  suitable  for  making  fire- 
brick and  the  ordinary  brick  for  building  is  plentiful 
and  well  distributed."  (Report  of  the  Governor,  1886, 

AJ>0 

Porcelain. — In  conclusion,  it  is  proper  to  state 
that  certain  portions  of  the  kaolin  found  in  the 
Union  is  of  a  superior  quality.  Prof.  F.  A.  Wilber, 
in  the  "  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States," 
speaks  of  ware  produced  from  American  kaolin,  "  Pa- 
rian porcelain,"  made  only  in  this  country,  and  which 
attracted  attention  in  England  because  of  its  excel- 
lent qualities  and  beauty,  and  also  of  a  delicate  form 
known  as  "egg-shell  porcelain,"  and  of  a  "porcelain 
paste"  as  pure  as  old  Sevres,  the  porcelain  made 
fiom  which  has  "a  characteristic  creamy  tint,  and  is 
very  translucent/' 

GLASS   MATERIALS. 

A  number  of  ingredients  are  mixed  in  the  mate- 
rial  from  which  glass  is  manufactured  ;  the  combina- 
tions of  these  ingredients  are  the  results  of  experi- 
ments made  during  hundreds  of  years.  An  essential 
one  in  every  kind  of  glass  is  silica— an  element  of 
flint — in  the  form  of  sand.  To  this  are  added  soda, 
lime,  potash,  and  often  a  number  of  metallic  oxides, 


274  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

according  to  the  kind  of  glass  desired.  The  various 
grades  and  kinds  of  glass  are  obtained  by  using  cer- 
tain proportions  of  the  ingredients  in  the  admixture 
— or  "  batch,"  as  the  workmen  term  it — in  the  pot 
where  the  material  is  melted.  An  abundance  of  all 
the  numerous  materials  used  in  manufacturing  glass 
is  found  in  different  localities  all  over  the  Union ; 
they  are  excellent  in  quality,  and  practically  unlim- 
ited in  quantity.  "  No  better  glass-sands  are  found 
than  those  of  the  United  States.  .  .  .  Some  of  the 
most  beautiful  colored  glass  produced  in  the  world, 
rivaling,  in  depth  and  richness  of  coloring  and 
beauty  of  design,  that  of  the  famous  works  of  Eu- 
rope, is  made  at  the  flint-glass  works  of  the  United 
States."  (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  5.,  1885,  P-  544-^}  Some  of 
the  works  in  Pittsburg  and  vicinity  have  introduced 
natural  gas  as  a  heating  power,  and  with  the  effect 
of  greatly  improving  the  glass. 

LIME  AND   CEMENT. 

In  the  construction  of  brick  or  stone  walls  for 
buildings,  or  for  other  purposes,  it  is  essential  that 
lime  mixed  with  sand  should  be  used  as  mortar,  but 
often  under  certain  conditions  cement  is  also  neces- 
sary. The  former  is  obtained  by  burning  common 
limestone,  a  natural  resource  in  such  quantities  and 
so  widely  distributed  throughout  the  Union  that  the 
very  numerous  localities  where  it  is  found  need  no 
further  notice  in  this  volume.  Cement  in  the  main 
is  also  derived  by  burning  a  grade  of  limestone  that 


Hydraulic  Limestone.  275 

exists  very  extensively  in  the  United  States,  and  in 
widely  separated  localities,  extending  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific.  Common  limestone  is  a  car- 
bonate of  calcium — the  metallic  base  of  lime ;  while 
hydraulic  limestone  has  in  its  composition  also  silica 
—the  chief  element  in  flint — and  more  than  a  half- 
dozen  other  ingredients.  From  this  combination  is 
manufactured  hydraulic  cement  or  mortar.  The  lat- 
ter from  these  ingredients  derives  the  property  of 
hardening  speedily,  of  being  insoluble,  and  is  used  in 
cementing  under  water.  Where  great  strength  and 
tenacity  are  required,  as  in  the  foundations  of  heavy 
buildings,  in  cellar-floors  to  prevent  water  penetrat- 
ing, in  sewers,  and  aqueducts,  etc.,  and  often  in  the 
manufacture  of  artificial  stone,  and  in  solid  founda- 
tions for  pavements,  cement  is  in  universal  requisi- 
tion. 

Hydraulic  limestone  is  found  in  very  numerous 
places  in  the  Union.  Of  these,  the  two  most  exten- 
sive deposits  thus  far  discovered,  one  is  in  the  val- 
ley of  Rondout  Creek,  Ulster  County,  New  York ; 
the  other  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio ; 
the  latter  extends  on  both  sides  of  the  river  into 
the  States  of  Kentucky  and  Indiana :  here,  as  in 
New  York  State,  are  large  establishments  for  pre- 
paring cement.  The  materials  for  making  cement 
are  abundant  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  they  are 
found  in  quantities  in  Colorado,  and  on  the  Pacific 
slope ;  in  California,  in  the  State  of  Oregon,  and  in 
Washington  Territory. 


XXVII. 

BUILDING-STONE. 

OUR  building-materials,  as  furnished  direct  from 
Nature,  are  great  in  number  and  in  variety.  The 
stones  to  choose  from  are  of  different  kinds  in  text- 
ure, but  having  those  qualities  that  can  withstand 
the  influence  of  climate,  in  not  being  easily  disinte- 
grated nor  disfigured  by  change  of  color ;  while  clays 
suitable  for  making  bricks  of  various  grades  are 
available  in  every  section  of  the  country.  The  main 
divisions  of  our  building-stones  are  reckoned  in  three 
classes  :  i.  The  entire  series  under  the  common  name 
of  granite,  with  their  varied  forms  of  texture  and 
shades  of  color  and  susceptibility  of  polish.  2.  The 
series  whose  principal  ingredient  is  lime,  as  the  vari- 
ous kinds  of  limestone,  including  marble  of  different 
and  coarser  grades.  3.  The  sandstones  of  several 
colors,  and  of  coarse  or  fine  texture. 

Characteristics  and  Uses  of  Stones.— We  can 
treat  of  these  only  in  general  terms  when  noticing 
the  classes  of  stones  and  the  localities  where  they 
are  found.  Granite  is  defined  as  "  a  crystalline,  un- 
stratified,  and  true  igneous  rock."  When  polished  it 


Marble.  2  77 

usually  appears  of  a  whitish,  grayish,  or  mottled  with 
a  flesh-red  color,  and  sometimes  quite  dark.  This 
stone  is  seldom  used  for  private  edifices,  but  gener- 
ally for  large  and  imposing  public  buildings.  The 
United  States  Government  uses  it  almost  entirely 
for  its  massive  structures.  The  coarse  kinds  are 
often  used  in  the  humble  capacity  of  pavements  in 
the  streets  of  our  cities  wherein  there  is  a  large 
amount  of  heavy  traffic.  Owing  also  to  its  enduring 
qualities,  it  is  rapidly  superseding  marble,  from  the 
simplest  to  the  most  imposing  monuments,  in  ceme- 
teries. It  is  noticeable  that  "  brick  in  a  general  way, 
pressed  brick,  and  brick  and  terra-cotta  work  com- 
bined, especially  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  have  some- 
what superseded  stone." 

Marble. — Marble  as  a  building-material  appears 
to  be  gradually  diminishing  in  use  in  portions  of  the 
country — notably  in  New  York  city  and  vicinity — 
owing  perhaps  to  its  tendency  to  discolor,  so  that  in 
a  few  years  its  brightness  becomes  dim.  Vermont 
marbles,  "  dressed  to  a  harder,  smoother,  and  durable 
surface,"  are  used  in  trimmings,  especially  where  the 
walls  are  of  brick,  and  for  interior  ornamentation. 
In  accordance  with  the  fancy  of  the  architect,  if  sup- 
plemented by  the  purse  of  the  owner,  building- 
stones  of  various  qualities,  and  from  widely  sepa- 
rated localities,  are  often  transported  long  distances 
to  be  used  in  the  same  structure.  For  illustration, 
houses  in  San  Francisco  have  been  built  of  Vermont 
and  Tennessean  marble,  and  in  New  York  city  of 


278  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

oolitic  limestone  from  the  interior  of  Kentucky ; 
while  in  the  way  of  trimmings  our  cities  have  no 
hesitancy  in  laying  under  contribution  any  State  in 
the  Union,  if  it  has  the  special  quality  of  stone 
wanted  ;  for  instance,  New  York  uses  marble  from 
Tennessee  and  Georgia  side  by  side  with  granite 
from  Maine,  or  even  from  that  outsider,  Nova 
Scotia. 

Sandstones. — The  brown  sandstone  appears  in 
some  respects  to  be  the  favorite  with  the  majority  of 
owners  of  private  houses,  who  adopt  that  class  of 
stone  for  fronts,  as,  when  of  good  quality,  it  resists 
successfully  the  effects  of  heat  and  cold,  dryness  and 
moisture  ;  the  best  grade  being  so  compact  as  not 
to  admit  the  moisture  within  its  texture,  as  the 
former  will  freeze  in  the  cold  and  cause  the  stone  to 
scale  off.  Competent  architects  understand  in  what 
position  to  place  them  in  the  wall ;  it  being  proved 
that  the  best  is  that  in  which  the  stones  originally 
lay  in  the  quarry.  Sandstones  of  this  class  are  quite 
expensive  to  construct  walls  with  them  alone ;  in  con- 
sequence, they  are  used  only  for  the  fronts,  the  latter 
being  often  a  few  inches  in  thickness,  but  anchored 
and  thoroughly  backed  up  by  common  brick — the 
brown-stone  being  used  as  a  sort  of  veneer.  This 
material  is  unusually  popular  for  church  edifices  in 
the  cities  and  villages  that  are  within  reach  of  its 
famous  quarries  in  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut. 

There  are  several  grades  of  sandstone  -  rock 
which  are  available  for  building  purposes.  These 


Localities  of  Biiilding-Stones.  279 

partake  of  one  general  property,  that  of  sand  being 
•well  and  firmly  compacted ;  but  this  sand  is  often 
quite  differently  constituted.  Geology  tells  us  that 
in  this  class  of  stone  the  basic  sand  may  be  silicious, 
or  flinty,  or  granitic  (derived  from  decomposed 
granite),  argillaceous,  or  clayey.  This  accounts  for 
the  various  grades  of  sandstone  :  some  are  gritty, 
some  savor  of  the  granite,  and  others  partake  more 
of  clayey  properties.  Then,  again,  we  find  different 
shades  of  color,  as  brown,  some  darker  than  others ; 
as  drab,  some  lighter  than  others  ;  and  some  partak- 
ing of  a  bluish,  slaty  tint.  We  have  also  in  immense 
quantities,  scattered  in  places  throughout  the  Union, 
another  class  of  building-stone,  the  basis  of  which 
is  lime,  such  as  the  common  limestone  and  gypsum, 
and  the  coarser  grades  of  marble. 

Localities  of  Building-Stones. — Granite  predomi- 
nates in  the  New  England  States,  and  in  them  are 
found,  when  taken  all  in  all,  the  finest  specimens  of 
that  stone  in  the  Union,  there  being  several  varieties 
in  respect  to  hardness,  texture,  and  color.  Portions 
of  the  Maine  granite  when  polished  have  an  appear- 
ance that  reminds  one  of  the  scales  on  a  shad  ;  the 
Quincy  has  quite  a  dark  luster ;  that  of  Cape  Ann 
still  different;  and  in  New  Hampshire,  the  "  Granite 
State,"  are  found  several  shades  of  color  in  the  pol- 
ished stone,  some  almost  white,  though  speckled,  and 
some  of  a  grayish  tint ;  the  Connecticut  shows  red- 
dish specks  amid  flakes  of  gray ;  while  Rhode  Island 
granite  is  excellent,  and  usually  of  a  darkish  gray  in 


280  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

color.  These  granites  in  their  varieties  are  all  beau- 
tiful and  possess  a  remarkable  solidity.  Because 
of  these  two  qualities  the  United  States  Government 
has  used  New  England  granite  in  building  nearly  all 
its  massive  structures  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and 
also  in  many  of  the  great  public  edifices  in  the  city 
of  Washington.  In  the  latter,  however,  granite  from 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  has  been  sometimes 
used. 

The  Granite  of  Five  States. — There  exists  a  great 
abundance  of  building  -  materials  in  these  States. 
Granite  and  gneiss  are  among  the  commonest  rocks 
in  the  western  highlands  of  North  Carolina,  and 
these  deposits  border  on  the  extensive  granitic  re- 
gion of  East  Tennessee.  The  former  State  has  about 
eighty  varieties  of  building-stones,  among  which  is 
claimed  a  granite  similar  to  the  famous  Scotch. 
(Handbook  of  North  Carolina,  p.  19?.) 

The  rocks  of  the  upper  country  of  South  Caro- 
lina are  similar  to  those  just  mentioned.  In  New- 
berry  and  Fairfield  Counties  are  extensive  beds  of 
excellent  granite,  fine-grained  and  easily  splitting,  in- 
exhaustible quantities  of  the  best  building  granite, 
and  in  many  other  localities  of  the  State.  One  area 
of  several  square  miles  "  furnishes  the  finest  quality 
of  blue  and  white  granite.  Granite  occurs  in  almost 
unlimited  quantities  in  the  vicinity  of  Columbia,  the 
State  capital ;  the  rock  is  of  a  light-gray  color,  fine- 
grained, compact,  is  durable  and  of  uniform  texture." 
(Handbook  of  South  Carolina,  pp.  iji,  608) 


Rocky  Mountain  Granite.  281 

Two  or  three  classes  of  granite  are  found  in  Mid- 
dle Georgia  ;  they  are  distinguished  more  or  less  by 
their  colors :  some  are  flesh-colored  in  specks,  while 
others  are  gray,  and  some  dark  in  their  luster. 
Rocks  having  the  granitic  properties,  such  as  gneiss, 
are  very  common  in  the  highlands  of  the  State. 
Iowa  also  has  granite  in  a  limited  extent  in  some  of 
the  northern  counties,  but  it  does  not  lie  in  regular 
beds  so  that  it  can  be  quarried,  but  is  found  in  huge 
bowlders.  From  this  granite  is  built  the  State  Capi- 
tol. An  extensive  deposit  of  granite  exists  in  the 
valley  of  the  Colorado,  in  Burnet  County,  Texas. 
This  granite  is  similar  in  its  main  characteristics  to 
the  famous  red  syenite  of  Egypt,  of  which  the  obe- 
lisks are  made,  and  also  to  the  Scottish  red  granite. 
The  State  Capitol  at  Austin  is  constructed  of  this 
material. 

Rocky  Mountain  Granite.  —  Building -stones  of 
almost  every  variety,  including  "  volcanic  rock/'  are 
found  in  this  division.  Granite  occurs  in  great 
quantities  in  Montana  and  Wyoming,  and  in  a  less 
amount  in  Dakota.  In  the  first  two  there  are  several 
varieties  partaking  of  nearly  all  colors  and  intermedi- 
ate shades :  some  are  coarse  and  some  of  fine  grain, 
the  latter  being  susceptible  of  a  good  polish.  In 
Colorado  building-materials  are  in  abundance,  and  of 
course  have  been  brought  more  into  use  than  in  the 
Territories  just  mentioned.  The  extensive  deposits 
of  granite  in  the  State  are  of  different  varieties  ; 
some  being  of  red  crystalline  rock,  which  is  suscep- 


282  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

tible  of  a  high  polish,  making  a  fine  material  for  or- 
namental work,  while  there  are  other  granites  of  a 
light-straw  or  cream  color,  that  take  a  fine,  durable 
polish.  Colorado  has  also  an  abundance  of  a  favor- 
ite building-stone,  a  fine  //^-colored  lava,  which  is 
used  quite  extensively  in  the  city  of  Denver. 

Pacific  Slope  Granite.  —  An  untold  amount  of 
granite  is  found  within  this  region  amid  the  foot-hills 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  while  the  latter  is  one  im- 
mense mass  of  granite  from  end  to  end.  Large 
amounts  of  this  substantial  stone  are  utilized  in  San 
Francisco,  in  the  construction  of  public  buildings  and 
in  the  United  States  dry-dock  at  the  Navy- Yard.  It 
is  a  singular  fact  that  the  first  granite  used  here 
for  building  purposes  came  from  China,  dressed  and 
ready  to  be  put  in  the  wall.  In  some  instances  the 
granite  of  this  State  is  very  compact.  In  the  Pen- 
ryn  quarry,  east  of  Sacramento,  the  stone  splits  so 
evenly  that  blocks  100  feet  in  length,  and  of  almost 
any  thickness  required,  have  been  taken  out.  This 
granite  does  not  change  color  by  exposure  to  the  at- 
mosphere, hence  it  is  adopted  for  monuments  or 
walls  that  are  exposed  to  the  elements.  "  The  pre- 
dominating shades  of  Penryn  granite  are  blue,  gray, 
and  black ;  the  last  named  very  much  resembling 
the  celebrated  black  granite  found  in  Egypt,  and 
they  are  exceedingly  beautiful  when  highly  pol- 
ished." (Mm.  Res.  of  U.  5.,  1882,  p.  455.)  California 
has  abundance  oi  granite  in  numerous  other  locali- 
ties, and  the  State  of  Oregon  and  Washington 


Lockport  Building-Stone.  283 

Territory  have  each   granite    in    their    eastern  por- 
tions. 

Building-Stones  whose  Base  is  Lime.— These 
stones  are  of  three  classes — common  limestone,  gyp- 
sum, and  a  marble  of  a  comparatively  coarse  grain. 
Perhaps  the  most  extensive  deposit  of  the  latter,  yet 
discovered  in  the  Union,  occurs  in  Westchester 
County,  immediately  north  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
From  this  source  has  come  almost  all  the  marble 
used  in  the  city  for  buildings  ;  the  most  prominent 
structures  of  this  marble  are  the  New  York  Univer- 
sity and  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral,  the  latter 
the  most  imposing  church  edifice  in  the  Union.  The 
main  towers  are,  however,  constructed  of  a  white, 
hard,  and  beautifully  coarse  marble  quarried  in  the 
vicinity  of  Baltimore,  Maryland.  There  are  several 
other  localities  within  the  State  where  limestone  of  a 
fine  texture  is  obtained,  and  which  is  adapted  to 
building  purposes.  At  Lockport,  on  the  Erie  Canal, 
are  extensive  beds  of  such  stone.  The  latter  when 
taken  from  the  quarry  is  comparatively  soft  and  easi- 
ly worked,  the  blocks  being  dressed  and  so  jointed 
that  they  can  be  placed  in  walls  with  ease.  The  fine 
texture  of  this  limestone  and  its  imperishable  nature 
(for  when  exposed  to  the  atmosphere  it  becomes  ex- 
ceedingly hard,  and  its  color,  a  delicate  gray,  pleas- 
ing to  the  eye)  have  rendered  it  a  favorite.  The 
Lenox  Library  building,  on  Central  Park  and  Fifth 
Avenue,  in  New  York  city,  is  constructed  of  this 
beautiful  stone. 


284  Natural  Resoiirces  of  the   United  States. 

On  the  Atlantic  slope,  North  Carolina  comes  next 
to  New  York  in  having,  in  the  western  portion  of 
the  State,  extensive  beds  of  crystalline  limestone — a 
coarse  marble  well  adapted  for  building  purposes  ; 
while  in  the  coast  region  "  shell  limestone  "  abounds 
as  a  building-stone.  In  East  Tennessee,  just  on  the 
State  line,  is  found  an  abundance  of  oolitic  limestone 
— characterized  by  round  grains  as  small  as  the  roe 
of  a  fish,  but  of  excellent  quality.  It  is  very  white, 
works  easily,  and  stands  exposure  to  the  weather 
very  well.  Vast  beds  of  the  same  kind  of  limestone 
are  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Bowling  Green,  Ken- 
tucky. Throughout  Middle  Tennessee,  limestone  is 
available,  and  extensively  used  for  foundations.  Some 
of  these  beds  are  almost  marble,  as  in  Henry  Coun- 
ty. The  State  Capitol  at  Nashville — so  imposing  in 
its  general  features — is  constructed  of  this  limestone. 

Let  it  suffice  to  say  that  limestone  is  common 
throughout  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  but  in  the 
main,  from  its  general  nature,  it  is  used  for  other  pur- 
poses, such  as  making  lime,  rather  than  for  buildings  ; 
to  this,  however,  are  found  a  few  exceptions.  Some 
portions  of  this  middle  region  of  the  Union  are  fur- 
nished with  another  class  of  building-stone — gypsum 
— in  which  lime  is  one  of  the  constituents  ;  the  dif- 
ference being  that  limestone  is  a  carbonate  of  lime, 
and  gypsum  a  sulphate.  Gypsum  is  found  in  immense 
and  inexhaustible  quantities  in  the  State  of  Michigan, 
but  in  that  connection  it  is  more  valuable  for  other 
purposes  (p.  472). 


Limestone  in  Four  States.  285 

Iowa  has  an  abundance  of  limestone,  for  building 
and  for  obtaining  lime,  in  many  counties  of  the 
State.  The  finest  and  largest  deposit  of  gypsum  in 
the  State  is  near  Fort  Dodge  ;  it  extends  in  solid 
rock  formations  for  five  miles  along  the  Des  Moines 
River.  This  stone  is  used  for  building  purposes  ;  it 
is  quarried  like  limestone,  and  is  capable  of  being  cut 
into  blocks  of  any  shape  or  suitable  dimensions. 
(Mm.  Res.  of  Iowa,  pp.  72-74.) 

Missouri  has  great  varieties  of  excellent  lime- 
stone throughout  all  sections  of  the  State  ;  these  de- 
posits supply  fine  building  -  stones  and  are  used  as 
such  extensively  in  all  the  towns  and  villages.  Kan- 
sas has  a  belt  of  limestone,  suitable  for  building,  that 
stretches  across  the  eastern-central  portion  of  the 
State  from  the  valleys  of  the  Blue  and  Nemaha  to 
the  Arkansas.  These  stones  are  compact  in  their 
texture  and  of  different  colors,  such  as  light  gray  and 
creamy  buff  and  gray-buff.  "  The  most  extensive 
quarries  in  the  State  are  in  this  belt,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  villages  of  Strong  and  Florence.  This  stone 
is  of  such  texture  that  it  is  easily  carved  into  de- 
signs, and  fashioned  into  all  shapes  employed  in  ar- 
chitecture. The  State  -  House  at  Topeka  is  con- 
structed of  this  stone."  (Report  of  State  Board,  vol. 
ix,  pp.  501,  502.)  Limestone  occurs  in  many  other  lo- 
calities in  the  State.  Nebraska  is  also  well  supplied 
with  different  grades  of  limestone. 

Montana  has  an  abundance  of  limestone  that  can 
be  used  as  building  material  and  for  other  purposes, 


286  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

as  well  as  excellent  marbles.  Wyoming  is  credited, 
in  the  Governor's  report  (1885),  with  being  very 
rich  in  limestone  in  "  all  sections  of  the  Territory. 
It  [the  stone]  is  of  a  tenacious,  hard,  metallic  qual- 
ity, and  susceptible  of  marble-like  polish  ;  it  is  used 
extensively  for  building  as  well  as  for  other  pur- 
poses." 

Colorado  has  an  abundance  of  limestone  that  is 
found  to  be  excellent  building  material,  the  quarries 
of  which  in  Jefferson  County  are  deemed  practically 
inexhaustible.  From  this  natural  deposit  are  ob- 
tained blocks  of  stone,  varying  a  little  in  color,  but 
becoming  hard  and  durable  when  exposed  to  the 
air.  On  the  Pacific  slope,  California,  Oregon,  and 
Washington  Territory  all  have  limestone  in  abun- 
dance, but  of  a  quality  that  is  not  very  available  for 
building  purposes. 

Sandstone. — As  a  building  material  sandstone  is 
the  most  common  that  Nature  has  provided  ;  it  is 
more  widely  diffused  than  any  other,  and  has  more 
marked  diversities  in  respect  to  its  texture  or  com- 
pactness, as  well  as  to  its  various  shades  of  color. 
This  stone  usually  occurs  in  deposits  that  are  moder- 
ately large,  but  so  numerous  and  scattered  as  to  be 
easily  accessible  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  people. 

Brown-stone. — East  of  the  Alleghanies  are  lo- 
cated two  very  important  deposits  of  sandstone  that 
is  much  used  in  constructing  buildings — one  in  Con- 
necticut, in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  River;  the 
other  in  New  Jersey,  in  the  vicinity  of  Belleville. 


Blue-stone.  287 

In  these  deposits  exist  one  or  two  grades,  in  respect 
to  the  texture  of  the  stone,  some  being  less  compact 
than  others  ;  as  to  its  appearance,  the  predominant 
color  is  a  reddish  brown,  while  the  subordinate 
shade  is  lighter,  but  both  retain  their  natural  color 
when  exposed  to  the  climate.  These  beds  of  brown- 
stone  are  immense,  and  for  more  than  a  third  of  a 
century  have  furnished  an  enormous  amount  for 
buildings  in  the  cities  and  villages  within  reach. 

Blue-stone.— In  Ulster  County,  New  York,  are 
extensive  beds  of  a  very  hard  blue-stone,  that  is 
much  used  for  adjuncts  to  buildings,  as  in  steps,  lin- 
tels, sills,  etc.,  while  it  is  in  great  demand  in  the  cit- 
ies for  flagging  and  causeways  in  the  streets.  New 
York  has  also  an  abundance  of  sandstone  located  at 
Potsdam,  very  hard  in  its  texture  and  durable,  of  a 
red  color  interspersed  with  grayish  veins,  but  of  a 
grit  almost  as  hard  as  granite. 

As  we  pass  south  along  the  Atlantic  slope,  we  find 
almost  an  unlimited  number  of  comparatively  small 
beds  of  sandstone,  but  sufficient  to  supply  the  local 
demand.  East  Tennessee,  however,  has  large  depos- 
its of  a  light-colored  sandstone  amid  the  Cumberland 
Mountains,  while  an  isolated  range — for  some  un- 
known reason  called  Niagara — furnishes  an  abun- 
dance, of  an  excellent  brown-stone ;  also  in  the  west- 
ern portion  of  the  State  is  found  a  peculiar  building 
material  designated  iron-sandstone,  which  is  used  ex- 
tensively for  foundations. 

Sandstones  of  the  Valley.— The  States  within  the 


288  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

valley  of  the  Mississippi  are  remarkably  well  pro- 
vided with  sandstone  for  building  purposes.  These 
stones  are  of  nearly  every  grade  in  respect  to  text- 
ure, some  being  very  fine  and  almost  capable  of  re- 
ceiving a  polish  ;  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  nu- 
merous varieties  of  sandstones  amid  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  of  the  Pacific  coast.  Their  colors 
are  also  various,  consisting  of  different  shades  of 
drab  and  of  blue,  and  of  a  blue  tinted  with  gray ; 
and  pure  gray,  and  with  a  greenish  tinge ;  others 
white,  or  red,  while  some  are  quite  dark.  Vast 
quantities  of  these  sandstones  find  their  way  to  cities 
and  villages  near  home  for  buildings,  and  also  east 
of  the  Alleghanies,  sometimes  for  houses,  but  much 
more  for  use  as  trimmings  of  windows,  etc.,  in  brick 
edifices. 

The  Amount  of  Sandstone  used. — The  deposits 
of  this  building  material  are  so  numerous  and  so 
widely  distributed  throughout  the  Union,  that  we 
can  estimate  their  area  and  depth  only  by  taking  as 
a  criterion  the  amount  quarried  and  used.  The 
number  of  cubic  feet  of  sandstone  thus  used  in  one 
year,  as  is  learned  from  the  census  of  1880,  is  in 
round  numbers  25,000,000.  Of  these  Ohio  is  cred- 
ited with  one  third,  Pennsylvania  with  one  fourth, 
New  York  one  eighth,  New  Jersey  one  twelfth,  and 
Connecticut  one  twenty-fifth,  while  the  remainder  is 
divided  between  twelve  States  and  one  Territory. 
During  the  same  year,  1880,  the  number  of  cubic 
feet  of  marble  used  for  building,  and  limestone  for 


Slates.  289 

that  and  numerous  other  purposes,  was  66,000,000. 
Of  these  Illinois  produced  one  fifth,  Iowa  and 
Pennsylvania  each  one  sixth,  and  Missouri  one  six- 
teenth ;  the  remainder  being  divided  between  four- 
teen States.  Likewise  in  the  same  year  were  pro- 
duced 21,000,000  cubic  feet  of  "crystalline  silicious 
rocks  "  or  granites,  of  which  Massachusetts  produced 
one  fourth,  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania  each  one 
seventh,  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  each  one  tenth, 
Rhode  Island,  Maryland,  and  Virginia  each  one 
twentieth,  while  the  remainder  is  divided  between 
ten  States.  To  these  vast  amounts  of  building-stones 
thus  recorded  by  the  census  are  also  to  be  added 
the  immense  quantities  that  the  people  use  from 
their  own  quarries,  and  of  which  no  record  is  ever 
published. 

SLATES. 

The  chief  quarries  of  slate  in  the  Union  are  found 
in  the  States  of  Pennsylvania,  Vermont,  Maine,  and 
New  York,  and  in  the  order  named.  Pennsylvania, 
having  very  large  deposits  to  draw  from,  produces 
more  slate  than  all  the  other  States  of  the  Union 
combined.  Her  most  extensive  quarries  are  in  the 
vicinity  of  Allentown,  on  the  Lehigh  ;  they  furnish  a 
slate  of  a  fine  texture,  generally  darkish  gray  in 
color,  and  specially  adapted  for  use  in  schools,  for 
roofing,  etc.,  as  well  as  for  the  almost  innumerable 
purposes  to  which  slate  has  been  applied  within 
recent  years. 

The  slate  deposits  of  Vermont  and   New  York 


20 


290  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

belong  virtually  to  the  same  slate  area,  as  they  are 
near  each  other,  the  State  line  merely  running  across 
them.  Castleton,  in  Vermont,  and  Middle  Granville, 
in  New  York,  may  be  deemed  important  centers  in 
their  respective  districts.  The  slate  of  both  areas 
partakes  of  the  same  general  and  excellent  qualities, 
comparing  favorably  with  that  of  Wales,  both  in 
fineness  of  texture  and  in  color,  while  it  is  found  to 
be  adapted  to  all  the  purposes  to  which  slate  is  or- 
dinarily applied.  It  is  also  susceptible  of  being  en- 
ameled, and  made  to  imitate  the  best  variegated 
marbles,  and  of  any  pattern  that  the  taste  of  the 
workman  designs — the  colors  being  baked  in  effect- 
ually. This  marbleized  material  is  extensively  used 
for  mantels,  wash-stands,  for  tops  of  tables,  and  other 
furniture  where  it  is  applicable.  It  is  very  durable, 
and  not  liable  to  be  injured  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances. The  large  deposits  in  Vermont,  and  the  ad- 
joining ones  in  New  York,  are  in  a  range  of  hills 
which  extend  north  and  south  for  more  than  twenty 
miles.  In  Vermont  are  also  very  large  deposits  of  a 
different  grade  of  slate,  one  that  is  of  a  light  drab 
color,  soft  and  of  a  delicate  texture  and  free  from 
grit,  from  which,  in  untold  millions,  ingenious  ma- 
chinery makes  slate-pencils. 

In  New  England,  Maine  and  Massachusetts  have 
each  large  deposits  of  slate  of  good  quality,  while 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Georgia  have  large  beds  of 
slate  that  is  suitable  for  the  purpose  to  which  it  is 
usually  applied. 


XXVIII. 

MARBLES   OF   FINER   GRADE. 

THE  State  of  Vermont  furnishes  us  the  greater 
portion  of  this  fine  class  of  marbles.  A  remarkable 
belt  of  territory,  which  contains  numerous  isolated 
beds  of  marble,  commences  in  Westchester  County, 
New  York,  and,  with  a  short  breakage,  extends 
northeasterly  across  Vermont  into  Canada.  The 
southern  end  of  this  belt,  as  already  noticed,  fur- 
nishes a  coarse  marble  for  building  purposes ;  but  in 
passing  northward  the.  quality  of  the  marble  im- 
proves, its  texture  becoming  more  fine  and  the  color 
a  purer  white.  Within  about  thirty  miles  north  and 
south  of  Rutland  the  finest  marble  of  this  belt  is 
found.  The  veins  of  the  best  marble  are  nowhere 
very  large,  and  the  finest  quality  lies  the  deepest ; 
the  dip  of  the  vein  is  sometimes  forty-five  degrees. 
The  more  pure  and  delicate  the  marble  is,  the  more 
easily  is  it  injured  by  the  jars  occasioned  by  quarry- 
ing, and  in  consequence  a  valuable  vein  is  sometimes 
cracked  and  ruined  for  quite  a  distance.  This  diffi- 
culty has  been  mitigated  by  means  of  ingeniously 
constructed  machinery  which  drives  saws  of  a  pecul- 


292  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

iar  character — often  with  teeth  of  black  diamonds — 
that  cut  channels  around  the  block  designed  to  be 
taken  out.  These  deposits  appear  to  be  practically 
inexhaustible.  The  marble  is  of  a  delicate  texture, 
and  the  color  white,  some  classes  being  suitable  for 
statuary ;  it  all  receives  a  fine  polish,  and  furnishes 
beautiful  and  useful  ornamentation  for  furniture  and 
for  interior  decorations  generally. 

Southern  Marble. — The  deposits  of  marble  in  the 
southern  end  of  the  Alleghanies  have  attracted  much 
attention,  not  only  because  of  their  immense  size,  but 
of  the  characteristics  of  the  marbles  themselves.  In- 
stead of  being  white  alone,  as  in  Vermont,  they  are  of 
almost  every  shade  of  color,  but  of  equal  fineness  in 
texture.  These  deposits  are  found  in  different  parts 
of  three  States.  In  the  western  portion  of  North 
Carolina  are  beds  of  excellent  marble,  the  latter  be- 
ing  of  various  colors,  such  as,  "  white,  pink  or  flesh- 
colored,  black,  gray,  drab,  and  mottled."  These 
marbles  are  susceptible  of  being  finely  polished,  and 
are  very  valuable  for  Ornamentation,  and  for  interior 
work  in  buildings. 

Serpentine  is  a  mineral  stone  usually  of  an  ob- 
scure green  color,  with  shades  and  spots  that  give  it 
a  mottled  appearance  resembling  a  serpent's  skin. 
In  the  same  section  of  the  State  occurs  a  very  large 
deposit  of  serpentine  or  verd-antique — the  common 
name  being  green  marble,  though  strictly  it  does  not 
belong  to  the  class  of  marbles,  it  being  chiefly  a  sili- 
cate of  magnesia.  This  material  is  found  in  Wake 


Serpentine.  293 

County,  in  such  large  blocks  that  it  is  "  sawn  into 
slabs  and  polished  and  sold  under  the  name  of  green 
marble."  Remarkably  beautiful  specimens  are  ob- 
tained from  quarries  some  dozen  miles  from  Raleigh, 
North  Carolina,  and  also  in  the  vicinity  of  Patterson, 
Caldwell  County.  The  latter  has  a  dark  greenish- 
black  color  with  fine  veins  of  yellowish  green ;  in 
another  bed,  in  the  same  county,  the  serpentine  is 
greenish  gray  in  color,  while  in  a  deposit,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Asheville,  the  color  is  dark  green. 
All  these  grades  of  serpentine  receive  a  very  fine 
polish,  and  are  used  much  for  interior  decorations. 
No  other  large  deposit  of  this  mineral  stone  occurs 
in  the  Union. 

East  Tennessee  is  peculiarly  fortunate  in  the 
beauty  of  her  marbles,  as  well  as  in  the  extent  of 
their  deposits.  The  pure  white  does  not  exist  in 
this  State,  but  instead  "a  remarkable  commingling 
of  one  or  more  brighter  colors  with  the  pearly  tints 
of  the  sea-shell."  Nearly  all  the  Tennessee  marbles 
belong  to  the  variegated  class ;  in  some  localities  the 
foundation  color  is  drab  or  dove ;  in  others  a  gray  or 
pinkish-gray,  and,  in  others  still,  of  a  mottled  pink 
and  gray — pronounced  to  be  as  beautiful  as  the 
famed  variegated  marbles  of  Italy.  These  mottled 
colors  are  fully  displayed  by  means  of  the  fine  polish 
which  the  marble  is  capable  of  receiving.  In  elabo- 
rately finished  private  dwellings,  in  the  cities  on  the 
Atlantic  slope,  these  marbles  are  often  used  for  in- 
terior work  of  different  styles,  but  more  especially 


294  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

for  steps  and  wainscoting  of  stairways,  in  hotels  and 
large  and  finely  finished  apartment-houses,  as  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  These  marbles  are  used  in  the 
interior  decorations  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington, 
and  in  the  Governor's  room  in  the  new  Capitol  at 
Albany,  New  York. 

Georgia  has  a  marble  belt  that  extends  through  a 
number  of  counties,  and  which  by  far  is  the  largest 
yet  discovered  in  the  Union.  These  marbles  are  of 
uniform  fine  texture,  but  of  different  shades  of  color ; 
some  "  white  statuary  marble  and  several  variegated 
kinds,  some  of  which  are  unique  in  color  and  re- 
markably beautiful."  In  one  district  is  a  red  varie- 
gated marble,  as  well  as  that  which  is  cream,  flesh, 
and  dove-colored ;  in  another,  "  the  marble  when 
polished  presents  the  beautiful  effect  of  a  network 
of  white  lines  on  a  dark  blue  or  black  ground." 
Upon  the  whole,  the  marble  area  of  these  three 
States  is  beyond  compare  the  most  extensive  in  the 
Union,  and  the  most  diversified  in  character.  (Hand- 
books of  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  and  Common- 
wealth of  Georgia?) 

Iowa  and  Missouri  Marbles. — Iowa  has  a  unique 
stone  known  as  "  coral  marble,"  thus  named  from 
one  of  its  constituents,  which  is  a  "coral-like  fossil" 
or  "  fossil-sponge,"  but  the  stone  is  sufficiently  com- 
pact to  take  a  perfect  polish.  "  It  is  a  trifle  harder 
than  Italian  marble,  and  is  remarkably  free  from  the 
checks,  seams,  and  defects  common  to  most  colored 
marbles."  "Though  no  two  pieces  are  perfectly 


Missouri  Marbles.  295 

alike,  the  groundwork  of  the  color  is  mostly  buff, 
gray,  or  drab,  and  this  is  inlaid  or  blotched  with 
masses  of  coral  varying  fr(5m  one  to  twenty  inches  in 
diameter  and  of  the  most  exquisite  and  delicate  col- 
oring and  tracing."  Of  the  latter  some  resemble 
wood,  others  sea-shells ;  some  having  specks  of  pure 
white,  others  veined  in  a  dark  mahogany-brown. 
The  beds  of  this  marble  are  said  to  be  practically  un- 
limited in  extent ;  they  are  located  in  the  northern 
portion  of  the  State,  in  the  valley  of  Cedar  River,  and 
in  the  vicinity  of  Charles  City.  (Res.  of  Iowa,  p.  ?j.) 

Missouri  has  several  and  quite  extensive  deposits 
of  excellent  marble,  some  of  which  is  fine-grained 
and  durable,  and  also  has  beautiful  shades  of  color. 
"  One  of  these  varieties  is  commercially  known  as 
onyx  or  onyx-marble,  a  stalagmite  formation  found  in 
beds  of  caves,"  and  said  to  occur  nowhere  else  in 
the  United  States.  It  resists  acids  and  does  not 
stain ;  it  is  extensively  used  for  mantels,  fine  furni- 
ture, etc.  This  State  has  vast  quantities  of  red  mar- 
ble mixed  with  flint,  which  gives  it  a  variegated  ap- 
pearance ;  and  also  a  large  deposit  of  white  marble, 
with  blue  streaks  that  gives  it  a  beautiful  luster  when 
polished.  (Missouri  Handbook,  pp.  29,  /#7.) 

Other  Marbles. — The  Territory  of  Montana  has 
beds  of  excellent  marble,  and  Wyoming  has  a  large 
deposit  on  the  Laramie  Plains,  the  marble  of  which 
is  "  crystalline  in  character,  very  fine-grained,  and 
yields  a  high  and  beautiful  polish."  Marble  is 
also  found  in  other  localities  within  the  Territory. 


296  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Marbles  occur  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  but  as 
yet  the  deposits  are  undeveloped.  Colorado,  among 
its  other  natural  wealth,  has  marbles  in  abundance. 
They  are  of  a  white  color,  slightly  seamed  or 
streaked,  and  of  good  quality.  Oregon  has  rich  de- 
posits of  marble,  and  so  has  Washington  Territory. 
The  latter  are  but  partially  developed,  as  the  wants 
of  the  people  have  not  yet  demanded  their  use  to 
much  extent. 

Malachite. — The  mineral  malachite  —  green  car- 
bonate of  copper  —  has  been  hitherto  credited  to 
Russia  alone,  but  it  has  been  recently  discovered  in 
masses  at  Bisbee,  Cochise  County,  Arizona.  It  is 
of  a  fine  quality  and  very  beautiful ;  because  of  its 
appearance  it  has  been  characterized  as  "  velvet 
malachite,"  since  its  rich  texture  resembles  that  of 
green  velvet  of  the  most  exquisite  finish. 

Specimens  of  this  rare  mineral  can  be  seen  in 
the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New 
York  city. 


XXIX. 

ABRASIVE    MATERIALS. 

Corundum  and  Emery. — Corundum  is  defined  as 
"  the  earth  alumina  in  a  native  crystalline  state," 
nearly  pure ;  while  emery,  having  the  same  alumina 
as  a  basis,  contains  from  one  fifth  to  one  third  of  iron 
oxide.  The  latter  occurs  sometimes  in  nature  in 
masses  and  grains,  but  is  oftener  prepared  for  use. 
The  particles  constituting  corundum,  or  emery,  are 
exceedingly  hard,  in  that  respect  almost  equaling  the 
diamond,  so  that,  after  being  reduced  to  the  proper 
fineness,  it  is  employed  in  abrasing  or  wearing 
away  surfaces  by  means  of  friction,  and  thus  "  it  is 
used  in  the  arts,  for  polishing  metal,  hard  stones  and 
glass."  It  has  already  been  noted  (p.  262)  that,  in 
veins  or  beds  of  corundum,  the  alchemy  of  Nature 
often  produces  one  class  of  gems — the  beautiful  sap- 
phire, with  its  clear  and  brilliant  colors  of  blue,  red, 
and  purple,  emeralds,  and  topazes. 

The  coarser  variety  of  corundum,  so  useful  for 
certain  mechanical  purposes,  occurs  in  a  very  large 
number  of  localities — more  than  fifty  are  already 
known — extending  from  Massachusetts  to  Alabama, 


298  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

while  "  emery  has  not  been  found  in  any  great 
quantity  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States." 
At  Chester  in  the  former  State  is  found  a  deposit  of 
corundum  so  large  and  so  accessible  that  parties 
have  been  induced  to  prepare  the  raw  material  for 
use  in  the  arts ;  but  at  present  the  original  bed  is  fast 
becoming  exhausted,  and  the  corundum  is  now  mostly 
supplied  to  the  works  from  other  sources,  especially 
from  North  Carolina  ;  the  very  small  and  isolated 
deposits  in  the  intervening  States  yielding  little  or 
none.  A  belt  of  territory  100  miles  wide,  and  in 
which  corundum  occurs  in  isolated  deposits,  extends 
from  the  Virginia  line  in  a  southwest  direction 
across  the  western  portions  of  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  and  through  Georgia  to  Dudleyville,  Ala- 
bama. The  most  prominent  deposit  is  at  Corundum 
Hill,  Macon  County,  North  Carolina.  The  mineral 
is  found  in  "  pockets  "  or  detached  places  amid  the 
rocks ;  sometimes  it  occurs  in  large  masses,  but 
mixed  with  extraneous  substances,  then  in  crystalline 
forms.  In  one  instance  a  crystal  was  found  that 
weighed  312  pounds;  the  latter  is  in  the  cabinet 
of  Amherst  College,  Massachusetts.  (Handbook  of 
North  Carolina,  p.  180.) 

It  is  stated  that  a  large  deposit  of  emery  has  been 
discovered  in  the  vicinity  of  Peekskill,  Westchester 
County,  New  York  ;  also  it  is  found  near  Allentown, 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  in 
Pettis  County,  Missouri. 

Buhr-stones. — The  buhr-stone  is  composed  of  a 


Buhr-Stones.  299 

flinty  quartz  filled  with  minute  cells  which  have 
sharp  edges  or  grit,  a  property  that  fits  the  stone 
for  grinding  grain.  These  stones  have  hitherto 
been  imported,  but  at  present  stones  having  similar 
qualities  have  been  discovered  in  a  number  of 
places  in  the  United  States,  and  have  been  exten- 
sively utilized.  In  respect  to  grinding  grain,  the 
time -honored  millstone  is  being  superseded  very 
rapidly  by  the  system  ot  using  iron  rollers  in  con- 
verting wheat  into  flour.  The  native  buhr-stones, 
for  the  most  part,  are  now  used  for  grinding  the 
coarser  grains,  as  corn,  and  in  making  oatmeal,  in 
pearling  barley,  in  grinding  paints,  chemicals,  fer- 
tilizers, etc. 

This  stone  occurs  in  many  localities  of  which  a 
prominent  one  is  in  Ulster  County,  New  York.  It  is 
known  as  the  Esopus  stone— a  granular  quartz,  but 
of  variable  texture  and  hardness  ;  also  in  Lancaster 
County,  Pennsylvania,  where  the  stone  is  found,  not 
in  the  usual  beds  or  quarries,  but  in  the  form  of  bowl- 
ders scattered  over  the  surface.  In  North  Carolina 
is  found  a  silicified  "  shell-rock  "  forming  one  grade 
of  buhr-stone ;  the  latter  have  supplied  almost  all  the 
domestic  demand  ;  and  in  Georgia  this  stone  appears 
in  large  quantities  in  one  place  on  the  banks  of  the 
Savannah  River.  "  It  varies  from  a  light  gray  to  a 
reddish  brown  color,  and  abounds  in  cavities  lined 
with  chalcedony."  Buhr-stones  of  various  grades  of 
excellence  have  been  discovered  in  limited  quantities 
in  the  States  of  Alabama,  Arkansas,  and  Missouri, 


3OO  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

and  they  are  also  reported  to  exist  in  Pitt  River 
County,  California. 

The  State  of  Ohio  has  large  deposits  of  a  sand- 
stone, which  is  ordinarily  fine-grained,  of  great  hard- 
ness, and  with  a  very  fine  grit.  These  beds  are  in 
the  valley  of  the  Cuyahoga  River,  near  the  village  of 
Peninsula,  and  the  stones  obtained  here  are  remark- 
ably well  adapted  in  their  texture  for  milling  oats  and 
barley. 

Grindstones. — The  belt  of  territory,  in  Ohio,  that 
furnishes  stones  of  a  texture  essential  for  good  grind- 
stones extends  south  for  about  140  miles  with  varied 
width,  from  Berea,  within  20  miles  of  Lake  Erie,  to 
Marietta,  on  the  Ohio  River.  There  are  within  this 
belt,  following  the  valley  of  the  Cuyahoga  and  over 
the  divide  into  that  of  the  Muskingum,  seven  very 
large  deposits  of  this  grade  of  sandstone.  In  each 
of  these  quarries  the  texture  and  the  color  of  the 
stone  are  somewhat  different  from  those  of  the  oth- 
ers, though  all  are  included  under  the  general  term 
the  "  Berea  grit."  At  Berea,  the  most  prominent 
deposit,  the  stone  is  white  in  color,  and  has  a  fine 
sharp  grit ;  the  next,  toward  the  south,  is  brownish 
white,  with  a  soft  loose  grit ;  the  next,  grayish  white, 
with  a  coarse  sharp  grit ;  the  next,  yellowish  in  color, 
also  with  a  coarse  sharp  grit ;  while  the  quarry 
farthest  south,  in  the  vicinity  of  Marietta,  produces  a 
comparatively  soft  stone,  the  grit  of  which  is  very 
coarse,  but  is  adapted  for  heavy  work.  The  grind- 
stones made  here  are  very  large,  reaching  as  high  as 


Michigan  Grindstone.  301 

twelve  inches  in  thickness  and  seven  feet  or  more  in 
diameter.  Extensive  manufactories  of  these  classes 
of  grindstones  are  located  in  the  city  of  Cleveland. 
Michigan  Stone. — It  will  be  noticed  that,  proceed- 
ing from  the  south  toward  the  north,  the  general  text- 
ure of  these  stones  becomes  finer.  About  200  miles 
directly  north  of  Berea,  in  the  Lower  Peninsula 
of  the  State  of  Michigan,  on  the  extreme  northeast 
point  of  what  is  called  the  "  Thumb,"  jutting  on  Lake 
Huron,  occur  immense  and  practically  inexhaustible 
deposits  of  another  class  of  stone  from  which  also 
grindstones  are  made.  (Statistics  of  Michigan,  1882, 
p.  207.)  This  is  a  remarkably  fine-grained,  argilla- 
ceous (clayey)  stone,  free  from  foreign  substances,  and 
of  a  uniform  texture  and  blue  color.  It  is  deemed 
perfect  in  its  adaptation  for  finishing,  where  a  very 
fine  and  delicate  edge  is  required.  It  would  seem  as 
if  these  stones  of  Ohio. and  Michigan  were  adapted 
to  supplement  each  other — the  one  doing  the  coarser 
and  the  other  the  finer  work.  The  grindstones  pro- 
duced in  the  former  State  are  much  larger  than 
those  made  in  the  latter.  In  Nova  Scotia  is  the  only 
other  place  yet  discovered  on  the  continent  where 
are  found  materials  suitable  for  making  grindstones 
of  a  high  grade.  There  is,  however,  scarcely  a  State 
in  the  Union  but  which  has  more  or  less  of  certain 
grades  of  stones  that  have  been  used  in  domestic 
work  as  grindstones,  though  their  work  must  be 
reckoned  very  inferior,  when  compared  with  that 
which  is  done  by  those  from  the  great  quarries. 


302  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Whetstones. — Novaculite  is  the  scientific  name 
given  to  a  variety  of  silicious  rocks  of  different 
shades  of  color  from  dark  to  honey-yellow,  from 
which  hones  are  made,  for  securing  the  finest  sharpen- 
ing of  surgical  instruments,  razors,  etc.  The  com- 
mon name  is  oil-stone  or  oil-whetstone,  as  that  sub- 
stance is  applied  when  the  stone  is  used.  A  large 
deposit  of  this  material  occurs  in  North  Carolina, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Chapel  Hill.  This  has  been 
worked  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  people  in  that 
section  of  the  State.  The  stone  is  also  found  in 
other  localities  in  that  region,  and  also  in  Ogle- 
thorpe  and  Lincoln  Counties,  Georgia,  there  being 
immense  beds  near  Graves's  Mountain ;  this  has 
also  been  utilized  to  some  extent  for  domestic  pur- 
poses. 

As  far  as  discovered,  the  most  important  deposits, 
of  this  oilstone  in  the  Union  are  in  Garland  and  Hot 
Springs  Counties,  Arkansas— in  the  latter  at  Whet- 
stone Mountain.  This  extensive  deposit  has  sup- 
plied more  of  these  stones  for  use  than  perhaps  all 
others  combined,  the  district  whence  the  oilstones 
are  taken  being  about  fifty  miles  long  by  twenty  in 
width.  While  a  portion  of  the  stones  are  dressed 
at  the  quarries,  the  much  greater  part  are  sent  else- 
where to  be  finished  for  market.  New  Albany,  Indi- 
ana, has  an  establishment  for  manufacturing  the  stone 
in  all  classes  and  grades,  to  supply  the  demands  of  the 
country.  Oilstone  is  also  found  in  Orange  County, 
Indiana.  It  is  reported  as  of  good  quality.  The 


Lithographic  Stone.  303 

harder  varieties  of  this  fine-grained  stone   are   also 
used  by  engravers. 

Lithographic  Stone. — Prof.  A.  R.  Roessler  (geol- 
ogist) discovered  recently  in  the  valley  of  the  Colo- 
rado in  Burnet  and  San  Saba  Counties,  Texas,  an  ex- 
tensive deposit  of  lithographic  stone  that  has  all  the 
excellent  qualities  of  the  famed  Bavarian  stone,  Ger- 
many, which  has  been  used  hitherto  in  the  United 
States  exclusively  for  fine  work.  "  This  stone  pre- 
sents all  the  appearance  and  physical  characteristics 
of  the  best  lithographic  stone  of  Bavaria.  ...  It  is 
yellowish-gray  in  color;  has  no  fibers,  veins,  nor 
spots  ;  a  steel  point  makes  an  impression  on  it  with 
difficulty."  (Prof.  R.  Everhart,  chemist.  State  Univer- 
sity, Texas,  1885^)  "  The  Texas  stone  in  its  chemi- 
cal composition  does  not  differ  materially  from  the 
Bavarian,  and  wherein  it  does  in  silicates,  it  has  the 
advantage."  It  has  been  "  tested  practically  under  a 
press  and  pronounced  equal  to  the  Bavarian,"  by  a 
lithographic  company  in  Chicago.  (Galveston  News, 
April,  1885.) 


XXX. 

GRAPHITE,   OR  PLUMBAGO. 

THIS  is  a  mineral  composed  of  carbon  almost  pure, 
for  in  it  there  is  often  a  trace  of  iron  ;  it  has  a  metal- 
lic luster,  and  leaves  a  dark,  lead-colored  trace  upon 
paper — hence  its  original  and  common  name,  black- 
lead.  Though  now  theoretically  considered  as  de- 
rived from  vegetable  tissue,  its  mode  of  origin  has 
by  no  means  been  accounted  for  satisfactorily ;  and 
Nature,  though  often  interviewed  by  chemistry,  has 
hitherto  given  out  only  vague  hints,  but  in  the  main 
has  persistently  refused  to  reveal  the  process  by 
which  she  distilled  this  unique  mineral. 

Uses  to  which  applied. — Graphite,  or  plumbago, 
is  utilized  in  very  many  ways ;  as  in  the  manufacture 
of  pencils — which  requires  its  finest  quality — from 
the  lowest  grade  used  by  the  ordinary  workman  to 
the  highest  demanded  by  the  artist ;  also  in  dry  lubri- 
cation, as  in  producing  a  smooth  and  easy  action  in 
the  piano  and  the  organ,  or  in  any  wooden  surfaces 
that  move  over  one  another.  To  fit  the  plumbago 
for  the  latter  use  requires  care  in  removing  grit. 

Within  recent  years  the  application  of  the  coarser 


Where  Graphite  is  found.  305 

grades  of  graphite  in  mechanical  industry  has  in- 
creased in  an  unprecedented  manner.  By  being 
properly  mixed  with  an  oily  substance  it  makes  a 
perfect  lubricant  for  machinery  of  all  grades,  remov- 
ing the  friction  in  a  remarkable  manner,  for  as  a  lu- 
bricant it  is  not  affected  by  heat  or  cold,  nor  by 
steam  nor  acids,  and  it  readily  coats  the  surfaces, 
passing  over  one  another  with  a  shiny  sort  ot  veneer. 
Still  more  remarkable  is  the  utilizing  of  that  prop- 
erty by  which  it  can  not  be  melted  by  heat  produced 
in  the  industries  ;  hence  its  demand  in  the  form  of 
retorts  and  crucibles  —  the  latter  at  first,  in  the 
mode  of  converting  iron  into  steel  by  the  Bessemer 
process.  It  is  also  used  for  pigments  and  for  pol- 
ishing iron  surfaces,  and  in  foundries  in  making  fac- 
ings for  the  molds  in  order  to  produce  a  smooth  sur- 
face on  the  vessel  cast.  "  This  has  been  a  great  im- 
provement in  American,  foundry  practice." 

Where  Graphite  is  found. --This  mineral  is 
widely  distributed  in  the  United  States,  but  thus  far 
in  only  one  or  two  localities  does  it  exist  in  sufficient 
quantities  and  purity  to  warrant  its  mining,  as  it  is 
so  often  mixed  in  the  bed  or  vein  to  a  large  extent 
with  slaty  rubbish  and  other  foreign  substances.  "  It 
is  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  Alleghanies  from  Ala- 
bama to  Canada,  but  in  no  instance  thus  far  has  a 
deposit  been  discovered  of  commercial  value."  It 
occurs  in  different  places,  but  in  small  quantities, 
in  North  Carolina,  the  beds  in  Wake  County  being 

the  most  important.     The  belt  of  territory  in  which 
21 


306  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

it  occurs  extends  for  some  seventeen  miles,  pass- 
ing near  Raleigh.  Some  of  these  beds  have  been 
opened  to  supply  the  domestic  demand,  but  "  the 
deposits  are  more  or  less  impure,  the  graphite  being 
of  a  slaty  and  earthy  variety."  In  Georgia,  a  mine 
in  Elbert  County  is  the  largest  deposit  yet  discov- 
ered in  the  State ;  there  also  occurs  graphite  in 
small  "pockets"  amid  the  rock  in  a  few  localities  in 
Northwestern  South  Carolina  ;  this  is  reported  to  be 
excellent  in  quality.  "  The  deposits  [of  that  whole 
region]  are  of  such  a  nature  that  purification  is 
economically  impossible."  (Min.  Res.  of  U.  S.,  1882, 
p.  5po.) 

In  California,  near  Sonora,  Tuolumne  County,  is 
a  large  deposit  of  graphite,  but  it  has  been  impos- 
sible to  obtain  it  sufficiently  pure  from  the  bed  for 
commercial  purposes,  as  the  original  material  is  so 
mixed  with  slate  and  other  foreign  substances  as  to 
make  the  separation  of  the  pure  graphite  too  expen- 
sive. The  latter  is  found  in  small  quantities  in  sev- 
eral localities  in  the  State  and  also  in  Nevada,  but 
"  these  possess  just  now  no  special  value."  Graphite 
is  also  reported  to  be  in  abundance  in  Wyoming, 
and  in  deposits  in  the  Black  Hills,  in  Dakota. 

New  England  and  New  York  Graphite. — Graph- 
ite occurs  in  very  limited  quantities,  in  Hinsdale, 
North  Brookfield,  and  Sturbridge,  Massachusetts  ;  at 
Brandon,  Vermont ;  and  Ridgebury,  Connecticut. 
The  only  place  in  the  Union  where  graphite  is  now 
mined  successfully  is  at  Ticonderoga,  Essex  County, 


Florida  Cedar. 


307 


New  York.  "  The  vein  there  has  been  worked  to 
a  depth  of  600  feet.  .  .  .  The  graphite  schist  or  vein 
is  about  fifteen  feet  thick,  carrying  from  8  to  1 5  per 
cent  of  graphite,  and  is  practically  inexhaustible. 
This  mine  is  unusually  rich,  for  it  perhaps  produces 
the  finest  graphite  in  the  world."  (Mm.  Res.  of 
U.  S.,  1883-1884.,  p.  2/5.)  It  also  has  a  coarse  grade 
for  making  crucibles  and  a  very  fine  one  for  making 
pencils.  These  are  separated  by  thin  partitions  in 
the  rock  ;  the  fine,  being  of  smaller  quantity,  is  in 
isolated  cavities  called  "  pockets." 


FlG.  12. — Section  of  Graphite  Mine  at  Ticonderoga,  New  York. 

Florida  Cedar.— We  may  here  remark  that  Na- 
ture has  given  us  the  monopoly  of  the  world  in  the 
peculiarly  fine-grained  cedar  for  making  pencils. 
This  wood  is  only  found  in  certain  swamps  in  Flor- 
ida, and  it  is  used  for  that  purpose  both  in  this  coun- 
try and  in  Europe. 


XXXI. 

SALT. 

THIS  substance,  so  essential  for  man's  health  and 
comfort,  is  produced  in  great  abundance  in  many 
and  widely  diffused  localities  within  the  United 
States — from  New  York  to  California,  and  from 
Michigan  to  Louisiana.  Chemically  speaking,  salt 
is  the  chloride  of  sodium  ;  the  latter  is  "  a  yellowish- 
white  metallic  element,  soft  like  wax  and  lighter 
than  water."  The  proportions  are  sixty  parts  of 
chlorine,  by  weight,  to  forty  of  sodium.  Nearly  all 
common  salt  is  obtained  by  means  of  evaporation,  a 
process  in  which,  by  either  boiling  or  by  the  appli- 
cation of  solar  heat,  the  water  of  the  brine  is  made 
to  pass  off  in  vapor,  while  the  saline  particles  are  left 
in  the  vessel.  In  the  main  there  are  two  classes  of 
brine,  or  salt-water — that  of  the  ocean  and  that  of 
springs  or  wells. 

Salt  (where  found). — East  of  the  Alleghanies, 
New  York  State  is  the  great  producer  of  salt,  which 
is  derived  principally  in  the  middle  part  of  the  State 
from  what  is  known  as  the  Onondaga  salt-bearing 
district,  the  city  of  Syracuse  being  deemed  the  cen- 


Warsaw  Salt-Deposits.  309 

ter.  This  is  an  area  immensely  rich  in  brine,  or  salt- 
water, both  in  quality  and  in  quantity ;  indeed,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  middle  portion  of  the  State  is  under- 
laid by  salt  in  some  form.  Within  recent  years  a 
discovery  of  rock-salt  was  made  accidentally  near  the 
village  of  Warsaw,  Wyoming  County.  An  artesian 
well  was  being  drilled  for  oil,  when,  at  the  depth  of 
about  1,500  feet,  the  drill  encountered  and  then 
passed  through  a  bed  of  rock-salt  forty-six  feet 
thick ;  soon  after  a  similar  discovery  was  made 
about  six  miles  from  the  former.  Near  Ithaca, 
south  of  Syracuse,  another  bed  of  rock-salt,  250  feet 
thick,  was  found  (1887)  at  the  depth  of  2,600  feet, 
while  sinking  an  artesian  well  for  natural  gas. 

Onondaga  District. — From  the  earliest  times  salt 
was  obtained  in  the  Onondaga  district,  and  the  oper- 
ations there  carried  on  are  to-day  on  an  immense 
scale.  The  salt-water  is  drawn  from  wells  almost 
innumerable,  and  is  run  into  large  vats  or  shallow 
reservoirs,  so  as  to  expose  as  great  a  surface  as  possi- 
ble to  the  heat  of  the  sun ;  these  vats  number  more 
than  40,000,  while  there  are  also  engaged  several 
hundred  factories  in  boiling  the  brine,  and  preparing 
the  salt  for  use.  The  finest  grades  made  here  are 
deemed  as  pure  as  the  famous  Ashton  salt  produced 
at  the  mines  of  Cheshire,  England.  Some  years 
since  the  National  Government  subjected  this  salt  to 
a  very  severe  but  impartial  test,  in  competition  with 
that  of  Turk's  Island.  The  test  was  carried  out  in 
preparing  provisions  for  the  army  and  the  navy. 


3io  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

The  Syracuse  salt  proved  to  be  the  more  effective, 
purer,  and  better  in  its  effects  upon  the  meats  thus 
prepared.  In  the  Warsaw  district  operations  in 
making  and  refining  salt  are  on  a  iarge  scale.  Rock- 
salt  and  brines  are  also  found  at  Saltville,  Smythe 
County,  Virginia,  and  in  one  or  two  other  coun- 
ties, but  the  production  is  comparatively  not  large. 
There  are  a  few  salt-wells  in  North  Carolina,  but  the 
output  is  quite  limited. 

West  Virginia  and  Ohio  Salt. — The  former  State 
has  a  number  of  localities  in  which  brine  is  obtained ; 
one  on  the  Kanawha  River — of  which  district  the  vil- 
lage of  Charleston  is  the  center,  and  where  salt  was 
first  manufactured,  even  when  the  Old  Dominion 
held  sway  in  that  section — these  works  have  been 
prosperous.  Tradition  tells  in  what  way  the  hidden 
treasure  was  discovered.  Two  boys,  when  the  water 
in  the  river  was  very  low,  went  fishing,  and  took  with 
them  a  bottle  of  milk  as  part  of  their  lunch.  When 
returning  home,  they  noticed  a  spring  of  pure  spark- 
ling water  bubbling  up  close  to  the  edge  of  the 
river's  stream,  now  very  much  reduced  in  volume, 
and  being  thirsty  they  filled  their  bottle  from  the 
spring,  and  were  astonished  to  find  it  salt-water. 
The  news  of  the  incident  spread ;  experiments  were 
made  by  boring,  and  soon  brine  was  found  in  abun- 
dance, and  which  has  been  flowing  from  that  day  to 
this.  Salt-water  has  been  discovered  in  many  other 
localities  within  the  State,  among  which  is  that  in 
Mason  County,  in  the  vicinity  of  West  Columbia,  on 


Michigan  Salt-Wells.  311 

the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  Upon  the  whole,  this  State  is 
rich  in  the  abundance  of  its  brine,  and  in  the  neces- 
sary coal-fuel  to  operate  the  wells,  but  the  brine  it- 
self is  not  as  rich  in  saline  properties  as  are  those  of 
New  York  and  Michigan.  There  are  four  different 
qualities  of  salt  produced  in  West  Virginia,  which 
are  characterized  as  coarse,  common,  fine,  and  dairy. 

In  the  southeastern  portion  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
and  near  the  Ohio  River,  is  a  prominent  salt-pro- 
ducing district,  being  similar  in  many  respects  to 
that  of  West  Virginia. 

Michigan  Salt. — In  this  State  what  is  known  as 
the  salt-bearing  district  is  confined  almost  entirely 
to  parts  of  some  half-dozen  counties  lying  on  or 
near  Saginaw  Bay.  Here  is  produced  an  immense 
amount  of  salt,  and  the  reservoirs  in  the  earth  from 
which  the  brine  is  pumped  are  apparently  inex- 
haustible. These  artesian  wells  are  near  or  on  the 
bay,  and  in  the  short  valleys  extending  into  it. 
"  The  salt  group  of  the  State  has  a  wide  extent, 
though  thus  far  the  salt  industry  has  been  confined 
exclusively  to  the  Saginaw  Valley.  .  .  .  The  reser- 
voirs of  brine  lie  at  a  depth  reaching  to  more  than  a 
thousand  feet  below  the  surface  of  Lake  Michigan." 
There  are  about  260  salt-wells  in  the  State  ;  of  these 
the  average  depth  in  the  Saginaw  Basin  is  950  feet, 
though  some  wells  run  to  1,900  feet.  (Commissioner  s 
Report  to  the  Governor  of  Michigan,  1882,  p.  32.) 

Salt  in  the  Great  Valley.— Saline  springs  and 
salt-wells  are  quite  common  in  some  of  the  States  in 


312  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

the  Great  Valley,  as  in  Illinois  and  Indiana,  across 
the  Ohio  River  in  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  and 
beyond  the  Mississippi  in  Nebraska,  Missouri,  Kan- 
sas, and  Arkansas.  The  latter  has  deposits  of  rock- 
salt  in  Dallas  and  in  Hot  Springs  Counties,  though 
thus  far  they  have  been  little  worked.  Kansas  has, 
in  the  valley  of  the  Solomon  River,  saline  springs  of 
great  value.  The  brine  flowing  from  the  latter  has 
been  tested  and  found  to  yield  a  large  percentage  of 
salt. 

Louisiana  Salt — This  State  has  two  widely  sepa- 
rated localities  where  salt  is  found :  one  in  the  north- 
western portion,  known  as  the  "  Licks  " — thus  named 
because  the  forest  animals  resorted  to  them  to  lick 
the  salt;  the  other  is  an  enormous  mass  of  rock- 
salt,  lying  in  almost  a  due  south  direction  from  the 
"  Licks,"  and  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Gulf,  on  an 
island  "in  a  sea-marsh"  near  New  Iberia.  In  the 
"  Licks  "  are  numerous  salt  springs  flowing  into  the 
adjacent  streams  amid  the  salt-marsh  sedges.  The 
water,  which  is  not  very  strong — only  two  to  three 
per  cent — in  saline  properties,  is  obtained  chiefly 
from  pits  or  shallow  wells  dug  in  the  flats.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  mass  of  rock-salt  on  Petite  Anse 
or  Avery's  Island,  is  remarkable  for  its  dimensions, 
and  the  purity  of  the  article.  The  mine  is  opened 
by  a  shaft,  from  which  "  the  mass  is  worked  by  a 
system  of  chambers  and  cross-headings,  thirty-five 
to  forty-two  feet  wide  by  sixty-five  in  height,  leav- 
ing a  roof  of  fifty-five  to  sixty  feet  of  solid  salt 


Salt  from  Lakes.  313 

above,  and  pillars  of  the  same  diameter  as  the 
chambers  (forty-two  feet  square)  for  its  support." 
The  shaft  is  sunk  to  the  depth  of  190  feet  and 
through  165  feet  of  solid  salt,  which  is  unchanged 
in  character.  The  area  covered  by  this  mass 
is  144  acres,  and  the  amount  of  hard  salt  is  esti- 
mated by  a  competent  engineer  at  28,600,000  net 
tons! 

Rocky  Mountain  Salt. — In  the  form  of  salt 
springs,  indications  of  hidden  stores  of  brine  occur 
in  these  mountains,  extending  .from  Montana  to  New 
Mexico.  In  the  Yellowstone  Valley  such  springs 
are  numerous,  while  in  Wyoming  rock-salt  of  great 
purity  is  reported  as  abounding  in  extensive  beds. 
In  Dakota  are  also  a  number  of  springs  that  furnish 
excellent  salt  and  for  which  the  flow  is  abundant. 
South  Park,  in  Colorado,  contains  numerous  saline 
springs  which  have  been  utilized  sufficiently  for  local 
demand.  New  Mexico  has  many  lakes  that  furnish 
large  quantities  of  good  salt.  Socorro  County  ob- 
tains common  salt  from  lakes ;  and  in  Valencia 
County,  on  the  plateau  between  the  Rio  Pecos  and 
the  Rio  Grande,  are  numerous  lakes,  where  large  de- 
posits of  excellent  white  salt  are  found,  and  which 
can  be  had  free  for  the  collecting  and  carting. 
(Illustrated  New  Mexico,  p.  2j2.)  Salt  lakes  occur  also 
between  the  Sacramento  and  Organ  Mountains ; 
there  is  also  a  large  one  sixty  miles  south  of  Santa 
Fe.  From  these  and  similar  ones,  where  salt  is  left 
by  the  natural  evaporation  of  the  water,  the  greater 


314  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

portion  of  the  Territory  derives  its  supplies  of  that 
essential  article. 

Texas  Salt. — This  State  has  extensive  lagoons, 
or  sea-marshes,  along  the  coast  in  the  vicinity  of 
Corpus  Christi,  where  salt  is  deposited  as  the  result 
of  solar  evaporation,  as  the  very  high  tides  leave  a 
portion  of  their  water  to  be  thus  acted  upon.  Num- 
bers of  small  saline  lakes  are  found  in  different 
places  in  the  interior  of  the  State  ;  these  supply  more 
or  less  the  local  demand,  but,  since  the  advent  of  rail- 
ways, salt  is  brought  in  at  such  reasonable  rates  that 
what  is  derived  from  the  lakes  is  now  quite  limited. 
Near  El  Paso  are  several  salt  lakes  that  are  com- 
paratively large. 

Utah  and  Arizona  Salt.— The  waters  of  Salt 
Lake  supply  sufficient  salt  to  meet  the  local  demand, 
and  one  hundred  miles  south  from  the  city,  near 
Nephi,  is  a  large  deposit  of  rock-salt ;  while  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Territory  are  other  exten- 
sive deposits  of  the  same  kind,  of  excellent  quality. 
"  This  resource  of  the  Territory  is  destined  to  be- 
come very  important,  as  the  supply  is  practically  un- 
limited." In  Eastern  Arizona  is  a  shallow  lake,  in 
which  salt  is  precipitated  on  the  bottom,  by  means 
of  the  heat  of  the  sun  evaporating  at  one  season  the 
water  that  accumulates  at  another.  Here  the  inhab- 
itants, farmers,  and  stockmen,  help  themselves  from 
this  common  property,  by  coming  at  certain  times 
with  Avagons,  and  shoveling  up  the  salt,  and  carry 
away  as  much  as  they  need. 


Nevada  Rock-Salt.  315 

Oregon  and  Idaho  Salt.  —  Saline  springs  are 
abundant  in  Oregon,  and  in  their  vicinity  reservoirs 
of  brine  seldom  fail  of  being  found  by  boring.  In 
Southern  Idaho,  in  Oneida  County,  are  numbers  of 
saline  springs  from  the  waters  of  which  hundreds  of 
tons  of  salt  are  annually  obtained  by  means  of  solar 
evaporation,  even  more  than  is  required  for  local  do- 
mestic use,  and  for  smelting  purposes. 

Pacific  Slope  Salt. — This  section  appears  to  be 
abundantly  supplied  with  facilities  for  obtaining  this 
mineral.  Here  are  saline  springs,  and  ponds,  and 
lakes  containing  water  from  these  springs,  and  some- 
times great  mountain-masses  of  crystalline  layers 
of  rock-salt,  and  deposits  in  the  beds  of  lakes  long 
since  dry  or  nearly  so. 

Nevada  Rock-Salt. — Of  this  the  largest  deposits 
on  that  slope  exist  in  this  State.  In  its  extreme 
southeastern  portion,  in  Lincoln  County,  a  few  miles 
north  of  the  Grand  Canon,  in  the  Colorado  River, 
and  on  the  river  Virgen,  a  tributary  of  the  latter,  is 
a  formation  of  rock-salt  resting  on  granite,  and  so 
extensive  as  to  constitute  a  notable  portion  of  the 
mountain  itself.  This  formation  as  a  bluff  extends 
along  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Virgen  for  twenty-five 
miles  or  more,  and  in  some  places  it  is  several  hun- 
dred feet  in  height.  More  than  60  per  cent  of  the 
entire  mountain  or  cliff  consists  of  hard  rock-salt, 
which  itself  contains  90  per  cent  of  common  salt, 
having  the  pale-green  color  and  transparency  of  ice. 
Twenty  miles  farther  up  the  river,  on  its  west  side, 


316  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

is  another  hill  of  rock-salt,  but  less  extensive  ;  the 
color  of  the  mineral  here  is  of  dazzling  whiteness. 
These  rich  and  extensive  deposits  are  in  trust  for 
future  generations,  as  at  present  transportation  is 
afforded  by  neither  river  nor  railway. 

Nevada  has  also  saline  springs  in  the  northern 
portion  of  the  State,  near  the  line  of  the  Central  Pa- 
cific Railway,  in  Churchill  County.  Here  salt  is 
manufactured  chiefly  by  solar  evaporation,  and  the 
silver-smelting  establishments  at  Virginia  City,  and 
in  the  vicinity,  are  supplied  principally  from  these 
springs  and  wells.  About  eighty  miles  east  of  the 
latter  city  is  a  remarkable  and  extensive  saline  marsh 
in  a  depression  near  Sand  Springs.  "  There  is 
spread  over  the  marsh  an  incrustation  of  impure  salt 
from  two  to  three  inches  thick,  brought  up  by  efflo- 
rescence from  below."  When  this  surface  incrusta- 
tion is  removed,  another  begins  to  form  ;  the  process 
goes  on  so  rapidly  that  several  crops  can  be  col- 
lected in  a  year.  This  impure  material  can  be  used 
in  metallurgical  operations,  such  as  in  obtaining  sil- 
ver from  the  ore.  There  are  many  other  localities 
where  salt  has  been  discovered  in  the  State,  but  have 
as  yet  been  but  little  utilized,  such  as  in  Esmeralda 
County,  where  salt  is  found  in  connection  with  im- 
mense alkali  flats.  In  one  instance  "  hundreds  of 
acres  are  underlaid  by  a  hard-pan  of  solid  salt,  more 
or  less  mixed  with  mud  and  sand."  (Mm.  Res.  of 
U.  5.,  1882,  p.  545^ 

California  Salt. — This  State  has  abundant  facili- 


Bromine.  3 1 7 

ties  for  supplying  hersell  with  salt,  not  only  by  solar 
evaporation  from  sea-water,  in  lagoons,  but  also  from 
saline  springs  ;  and  within  her  borders  more  is  ob- 
tained by  means  of  the  former  process  than  other- 
wise ;  the  salt  is  afterward  purified  for  domestic  use. 
"  The  salt  made  on  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  is  as 
good  as  any  in  the  world,  being  in  strength  and  pu- 
rity equal  to  the  best  French  brands,  and  much  heav- 
ier than  the  imported  from  England."  (Mm.  Res.  of 
U.  5.,  1882,  p.  54.9.)  This  State  has  salt  marshes 
nearly  as  extensive  as  those  in  Nevada  ;  numbers  of 
these  are  waiting  to  be  utilized.  The  Bay  of  San 
Francisco  alone,  with  its  lagoons,  furnishes  not  less 
than  25,000  tons  annually.  The  amount  of  salt  used 
in  that  section  of  the  country  is  exceptionally  large, 
as  in  the  reduction  ol  silver-ores,  and  in  other  such 
operations,  about  30,000  tons  are  consumed  each 
year ;  to  this  must  be  added  what  is  consumed  in  do- 
mestic use. 

Upon  the  whole,  as  we  have  seen,  the  United 
States  are  amply  supplied  with  this  invaluable  arti- 
cle from  native  springs  and  from  wells,  while  in  addi- 
tion, it  need  be,  are  afforded  numerous  facilities,  es- 
pecially along  our  Southern  coasts,  to  obtain  it  from 
sea-water  by  solar  evaporation. 

BROMINE. 

Bromine  is  found,  but  in  only  very  small  quanti- 
ties, in  the  water  of  the  ocean  and  in  saline  springs 
and  wells.  In  the  waters  of  the  great  salt-wells  of 


318  Natural  Resotirces  of  the  United  States. 

New  York  and  Michigan  it  has  scarcely  a  trace, 
while  in  those  of  the  adjacent  salt  districts  of  West 
Virginia  and  Ohio  it  occurs  in  quantities  sufficient  to 
warrant  its  manufacture,  and  only  here  in  the  Union 
is  it  made  ;  yet  the  United  States  holds  the  first 
rank  in  the  world  in  its  production. 

"  Bromine  is  a  deep,  reddish-brown  liquid,  of  a 
very  disagreeable  odor."  It  is  used  medicinally,  in 
photography,  and  in  analytical  and  experimental 
chemistry.  Sometimes  it  is  used  as  a  disinfectant 
and  for  bleaching  purposes,  and  also  occasionally  in 
producing  colors.  After  the  salt  has  been  extracted, 
some  waters  leave  as  a  refuse  a  liquid  sediment 
known  as  "bittern,"  an  ingredient  of  which  is  bro- 
mine. From  this  substance  it  is  extracted  by  an 
elaborate  chemical  process.  Bromine  is  usually 
found  to  have  a  trace  or  slight  connection  with 
chlorine  and  iodine.  The  latter  is  not  produced  in 
the  United  States,  but  is  obtained  for  the  greater 
part  from  ashes  of  "  kelp,"  the  result  of  burning  cer- 
tain classes  of  sea-weeds  found  on  the  shores  of  Ire- 
land, Scotland,  and  Norway.  The  purposes  to  which 
bromine  is  applied  are  quite  limited,  and  in  each  of 
these  the  quantity  is  not  large.  In  1885  the  product 
in  the  United  States  was  about  310,000  pounds,  and 
that  for  the  most  part  supplied  the  world. 

BORAX. 

Borax,  a  substance  usually  of  crystalline  form,  is 
of  a  white  color,  or  sometimes  grayish,  and  often 


California  Borax.  319 

with  a  shade  of  blue  or  green.  Being  an  excellent 
flux,  it  is  used  in  many  metallurgical  operations,  and 
in  ordinary  delicate  soldering.  "  The  leading  uses 
of  borax  are  in  welding  (for  which  the  greater  part 
is  consumed  in  iron  and  steel  manufacturing)  j  in  re- 
fining metals  as  a  crucible  flux ;  in  enameling ;  by 
packers,  in  preserving  meats ;  and,  because  of  its 
cleansing  power,  as  a  detergent  for  household  pur- 
poses." (Min.  Res.  of  U.  5.,  1882,  p.  576.) 

Where  obtained. — This  valuable  substance  or 
salt  is  scarcely  found  in  the  Union  except  in  the 
States  of  California  and  Nevada,  though  in  some  of 
the  hot  springs  in  the  Yellowstone  Valley,  Montana, 
boracic  acid  occasionally  appears.  An  enterprising 
California  physician — Dr.  John  A.  Veatch — detected 
the  presence  of  boracic  acid  in  certain  mineral 
springs  of  the  State ;  he  never  relaxed  his  efforts  till, 
after  much  search  and  travel,  and  many  disappoint- 
ments, he  discovered  a  large  deposit  of  borax  itself, 
resting  in  its  bed  on  the  margin  of  a  marsh.  It  was 
in  semi-opaque  crystals  imbedded  in  the  mud  in  the 
marshy  soil — some  of  the  crystals  very  small,  and 
others  quite  large.  This  was  in  Lake  County,  and 
on  the  border  of  Clear  Lake.  This  deposit  was 
worked,  and  meanwhile  borax  was  found  in  several 
other  localities  within  the  State,  such  as  in  the  Slate 
Range  marsh  in  San  Bernardino  County.  This  de- 
posit is  of  rather  more  than  average  richness.  Addi- 
tional deposits  were  afterward  found  in  the  same 
county.  A  number  of  other  borax-bearing  districts 


320  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

occur  in  Inyo  County ;  two  of  these  contain  several 
thousand  acres,  and  appear  to  comprise  the  chief 
deposits  in  that  region;  and  there  are  still  others, 
of  minor  importance,  in  the-  State. 

The  borax-bearing  districts  of  California  are  small 
compared  with  the  immense  ones  found  in  Nevada. 
In  the  latter  State  are  a  number  of  extensive  marshes 
in  which  the  boracic  salts  predominate,  and  they  ap- 
pear to  be  practically  unlimited ;  these  salts  are  the 
result  of  the  uniting  of  boracic  acid  in  nature,  prin- 
cipally with  lime  or  soda.  In  Nevada  borax  "  crys- 
tallizes in  long,  silky  fibers,  which  gather  into  balls 
from  an  eighth  of  an  inch  to  two  or  three  inches  in 
diameter.  These  globular  masses  have  the  luster  of 
white  satin."  In  some  of  the  marshes  or  alkali  flats 
of  the  State  the  different  combinations  of  borax  pro- 
duce salts,  the  efflorescence  of  which,  at  certain  sea- 
sons, "  is  moist,  flaky,  and  of  dazzling  whiteness,  and 
might  easily  be  taken  lor  fallen  snow."  (Mm.  Res.  of 
U.  S.,  1882,  p.  568.)  "  In  the  barren  wastes,  where 
nothing  grows  and  everything  looks  desolate,  is 
found  the  wealth  that  lies  in  the  vast  fields  of  borax, 
salt,  niter,  soda,  sulphur,  etc.  .  .  .  The  borax  districts 
of  Esmeralda  County  are  proving  to  be  of  great 
value  and  extent."  (Report  of  Surveyor-General  to  the 
Governor,  1885?)  These  four  prominent  marshes  or 
basins,  to  which  allusion  is  here  made,  cover  from 
10,000  to  20,000  acres  each,  and,  all  combined,  about 
115  square  miles.  At  quite  separate  points  in  the 
State  are  an  additional  number  of  borax  marshes 


Saltpeter.  321 

or  districts,  so  that  Nevada  is  to  be  pre-eminently 
our  producer  of  the  borax  of  commerce,  the  chief 
market  of  which  is  in  New  York  and  London, 
while  Germany,  with  China  and  Japan,  come  in  for 
a  share.  The  borax  produced  (1885)  on  the  Pa- 
cific  slope  amounted  to  4,000  tons. 

Saltpeter,  or  Niter.  —  This  substance  occurs  in 
nature  as  a  crust  of  minute  silky  crystals.  It  is 
used  as  an  antiseptic,  in  making  gunpowder,  and 
in  medicine.  Though  often  found  in  a  native  state, 
before  using  it  requires  refining.  In  this  native 
form  it  occurs  in  numerous  places  in  the  United 
States,  especially  in  the  western  portion,  such  as  in 
Utah  and  Nevada,  but  the  greater  amount -used  at 
present  in  the  Union  comes  from  Peru  and  Chili. 
Deposits  of  the  nitrate  of  soda,  similar  to  that  in 
Chili,  have  been  found  in  Humboldt  County,  Ne- 
vada, within  twenty-five  .miles  of  the  Pacific  Rail- 
way. Its  crystals  either  occupy  crevices  in  the 
rocks,  or  are  imbedded  in  the  earth  from  a  few 
inches  to  thirty  feet  beneath  the  surface.  The  geo- 
logical and  climatic  conditions  on  the  Nevada  "  Forty- 
mile  Desert"  are  similar  to  those  in  Peru  and  Chili, 
where  this  nitrate  of  soda  covers  the  dry  desert  for 
several  feet  thick.  Nevada  has  immense  beds  of  this 
valuable  mineral,  which,  by  means  of  proper  facilities, 
can  furnish  an  ample  supply  of  saltpeter  to  the  coun- 
try. Recently  a  large  deposit  of  nitrate  of  soda  was 
discovered  in  San  Bernardino  County,  California,  and 

it  has  also  been  found  in  the  extreme  southern  por- 
22 


322  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

tion  of  New  Mexico.  The  carbonate  of  soda  abounds 
within  the  Great  Basin,  in  extensive  alkali  flats,  but 
it  is  always  mixed  with  salt,  borax,  lime,  magnesia, 
and  other  minerals.  (Min.  Res.  of  U.  5.,  1883,  pp. 


SULPHUR. 

Sulphur,  a  simple  mineral  substance  commonly 
called  brimstone,  is  of  a  yellow  color,  easily  broken, 
and  burns  quickly.  The  numerous  mineral  springs 
in  different  portions  of  the  Union  that  have  sulphur 
in  their  waters  in  combination  with  other  ingre- 
dients give  evidence  of  its  general  distribution.  It 
is  found  in  nature,  as  we  have  seen  in  treating  of 
metals,  everywhere  in  combination  with  their  re- 
spective ores,  so  that  its  presence  may  be  deemed 
almost  universal.  The  States  of  New  York  and  Vir- 
ginia have  each  a  number  of  sulphur  springs,  their 
waters  having  varied  characteristics.  We  have  also 
beds  of  pure  sulphur,  as  in  Cayuga  County,  New 
York  ;  and  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  some 
twenty  miles  from  Washington  ;  and  on  an  island  be- 
longing to  Ohio  in  Lake  Erie  ;  in  Kansas,  and  in 
Florida.  These  deposits  are  all  too  small  to  have 
sufficient  commercial  importance  to  induce  their  be- 
ing mined.  There  is,  however,  a  remarkable  bed  of 
native  sulphur  in  Southwestern  Louisiana  —  some 
dozen  miles  from  Lake  Charles  —  that  would  seem  to 
be  a  puzzle  to  geologists.  This  deposit  lies  425  feet 
below  the  surface,  and  is  about  100  feet  in  thickness, 
the  sulphur  being  quite  pure.  Underneath  this  is 


Sulphur  Deposits.  323 

also  a  bed  of  gypsum  (sulphate  of  lime)  about  150 
feet  thick.  Texas  has  likewise  beds  of  sulphur  with- 
in her  domain.  In  the  Territories,  sulphur  occurs  in 
Southwestern  Wyoming,  in  Southeastern  Idaho,  and 
in  Northeastern  Utah,  in  the  Uintah  Mountains ; 
these  three  beds  appear  to  belong  to  the  same  gen- 
eral formation,  though  in  Utah  are  a  number  of 
other  localities  where  sulphur  is  found.  New  Mex- 
ico has  also  a  number  of  beds  of  sulphur. 

Pacific  Slope  Sulphur. — Beds  of  sulphur  are 
found  in  a  number  of  places  in  Southern  California, 
along  the  west  side  of  the  Coast  Range,  and  also  in 
the  southeastern  portion  of  the  State,  in  the  vicinity 
ot  the  mud-volcanoes  in  San  Diego  County.  Some 
of  these  deposits  are  quite  large,  though  only  one, 
that  at  Clear  Lake,  has  been  utilized,  but  only  par- 
tially. 

Nevada  has  deposits  of  sulphur,  but  their  per- 
centage in  richness  is  small.  In  that  State  it  is  often 
found  in  the  openings  of  extinct  hot  springs  amid 
a  sage-brush  desert.  In  Churchill  County  is  a  bed 
covering  thirty  acres,  and  some  of  the  sulphur  is 
quite  pure,  though  somewhat  mixed  with  earth.  In 
the  northwestern  portion  of  the  State  is  an  impor- 
tant bed,  which  is  evidently  of  volcanic  origin,  as  it 
is  in  connection  with  /#/*#,  a  "  volcanic  sandstone," 
and  the  sulphur  is  imbedded  in  cavities,  some  five  or 
six  feet  wide,  with  layers  of  crystals.  "  The  sulphur 
has  been  derived  from  a  deep-seated  source,  and  de- 
posited from  the  condition  of  vapor  among  the 


324  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

cooler  and  higher  rocks  where  it  is  now  found. 
Alaska  has  heavy  deposits  of  sulphur  near  some  vol- 
canic cones  along  the  coast,  and  in  the  groups  of  the 
Aleutian  Isles. 

The  reason  why  our  sulphur-mines  have  not  been 
more  utilized  is  because  of  the  immense  amounts 
that  have  come  from  abroad,  especially  from  Sicily, 
where  it  is  in  abundance  and  where  labor  is  exceed- 
ingly cheap,  as  well  as  the  freightage. 

Sulphuric  Acid. — This  acid  is  composed  of  one 
part  sulphur  and  three  parts  oxygen ;  the  common 
name  is  vitriol,  or  oil  of  vitriol.  It  is  not  strictly  a 
natural  resource,  but  it  is  easily  obtained  from  the 
crude  or  natural  sulphur,  or  from  pyrites,  or  sulphu- 
rets — that  is,  when  it  is  united  in  the  mine  with  an- 
other substance  as  a  metal.  About  one  half  of  all 
this  acid  made  in  the  United  States  is  used  in  manu- 
facturing fertilizers,  and,  owing  to  the  abundance  of 
sulphur  in  numerous  places,  and  combined  in  some 
form  in  nature,  the  acid  is  easily  and  cheaply  ob- 
tained. Of  one  form  it  is  said  :  "  There  is  scarcely  a 
State  in  the  Union  in  which  pyrites  does  not  occur 
to  a  considerable  extent ;  and  at  the  present  time  all 
sulphuric-acid  makers  can  be  cheaply  supplied  from 
mines  already  opened,"  and  there  are  hundreds  of 
deposits  to  be  drawn  upon  in  the  future.  (Min.  Res. 
of  U.  S.,  1 883-1884,  p. 


XXXII. 

MINERAL   OR   MEDICINAL   SPRINGS. 

THESE  springs  are  found  in  several  States  of  the 
Union,  but  by  no  means  in  all.  The  eastern  portion, 
New  York,  and  West  Virginia,  have  the  largest  num- 
ber ;  while,  in  connection  with  some  of  these,  are 
pleasant  resorts,  especially  for  summer  visitors,  who* 
are  not  invalids,  but  are  seeking  recreation. 

In  New  England  are  a  number  of  mineral  or 
medicinal  springs ;  the  waters  of  many  of  these  are 
deemed  effective  in  remedying  numerous  ailments, 
though  their  flow  is  comparatively  small.  In  Maine, 
at  South  Poland,  are  springs,  the  waters  of  which 
have  a  reputation  as  a  remedy  for  kidney-diseases, 
dyspepsia,  and  kindred  ailments.  Near  Milford, 
New  Hampshire,  are  five  springs,  the  waters  of  no 
two  being  alike.  From  one  flows  a  water  nearly 
allied  in  character  to  the  famed  "  Apollinaris."  The 
Sheldon  or  Missisquoi  Springs,  about  twenty  in  num- 
ber, are  in  Vermont,  some  ten  miles  northeast  of 
St.  Albans.  These  are  the  most  important  springs 
in  the  State.  The  waters  possess  different  proper- 
ties, but  their  principal  virtue  is  claimed  to  be  effi- 
cient in  relieving  cancerous  diseases. 


326  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

New  York  Springs:  Saratoga. — The  mineral 
springs  in  the  State  of  New  York  predominate 
either  in  sulphur  or  soda.  The  most  popular  of 
these  are  at  Saratoga,  which  is  the  most  celebrated 
summer  resort  in  the  interior  of  the  Union ;  but  in 
the  season  there  are  present  comparatively  very  few 
invalids.  The  region  round  about  is  not  specially 
inviting  as  to  scenery ;  the  location  may  be  termed 
a  moderately  elevated  plateau,  but  the  vicinity  is  re- 
markable for  the  purity  of  its  air ;  the  soil  being  dry 
and  sandy,  no  malaria  is  generated.  The  number  of 
springs  and  wells  is  nearly  thirty,  and  they  extend  in 
a  line  northeast  and  southwest  for  a  number  of  miles. 
The  waters  of  no  two  are  precisely  alike,  except  that 
they  are  all  more  or  less  impregnated  with  soda,  and 
are  strongly  charged  with  carbonic-acid  gas.  These 
waters  are  very  diversified  in  their  characteristics ; 
one  or  two  are  chalybeate  or  iron ;  some  have  as 
ingredients  magnesia,  sulphur,  or  iodine.  Their 
properties  being  in  the  main  both  tonic  and  cathar- 
tic, they  stimulate  the  secretions  and  relieve  the  sys- 
tem, as  in  cases  of  dyspepsia  or  engorgement  of  the 
liver  and  kindred  maladies.  The  waters  of  these 
springs  flow  in  great  abundance ;  being  pressed  up 
from  the  depths  below  by  the  force  of  gas,  they  come 
to  the  surface  clear  and  sparkling.  Though  they 
have  medicinal  ingredients,  they  are  nearly  all  pala- 
table and  refreshing,  and  are  drunk  for  their  own 
sake,  in  great  quantities,  by  the  healthy  visitors. 

This  State  has  in  different  localities  a  number  of 


Avon  Springs.  327 

other  mineral  springs;  in  these  sulphur  predomi- 
nates more  than  any  other  ingredient.  There  are 
four  springs  at  the  village  of  Sharon,  Schoharie 
County.  The  waters  are  diversified  in  character, 
there  being  one  chalybeate,  one  magnesia,  and  two — 
one  white,  and  the  other  blue — sulphur.  These  sul- 
phur-springs are  said  to  resemble  those  of  Virginia ; 
they  are  used  for  rheumatic  ailments.  In  Otsego 
County  are  the  Richfield  Springs,  at  a  village  of  the 
same  name.  Then  quite  a  number  of  these  are  of 
varied  size,  but,  upon  the  whole,  the  flow  of  water 
is  not  large ;  the  predominant  ingredient  is  sul- 
phur. 

Clifton  Springs,  in  Ontario  County,  are  quite 
famous  for  their  healing  properties  in  bilious,  cuta- 
neous, and  rheumatic  ailments.  The  important  in- 
gredient is  sulphur,  whose  deposit  is  white ;  the  sul- 
phurous aroma  so  pervades  the  vicinity,  that  it  can 
be  detected  at  quite  a  distance.  The  sulphur  com- 
bines also  with  other  substances,  such  as  magnesia, 
soda,  lime,  etc.  The  waters  are  similar  to  those  of 
Greenbrier,  West  Virginia. 

Avon  Springs  are  in  the  valley  of  the  Genesee 
River,  south  of  Rochester.  The  waters  of  these 
springs  have  been  characterized  as  "  saline-sulphur- 
ous." They  are  used  to  relieve  rheumatism,  to  aid 
digestion,  and  cure  diseases  of  the  skin.  Lebanon 
Springs. — Their  water,  which  flows  from  a  cavity 
ten  feet  in  diameter,  is  uniform  in  its  temperature 
of  about  73°  at  times,  and  flows  in  a  strong  current. 


328  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  claimed  to  be  remedial  for  nervous  debility, 
liver-complaint,  rheumatism,  and  cutaneous  diseases. 

Pennsylvania  Springs. — This  State  can  not  boast 
of  many  medicinal  springs,  nor  of  their  great  value 
or  flow  of  water.  Bedford  Springs,  in  Bedford 
County,  have  long  been  deemed  the  most  important 
in  the  State.  There  are  six  in  number;  the  prevail- 
ing ingredient  in  the  water  has  been  characterized 
as  "saline-chalybeate,"  and  also  as  containing  sul- 
phate of  magnesia,  carbonates  of  iron  and  of  lime, 
and  carbonic  acid.  The  waters  are  tonic  as  well  as 
laxative  in  their  effects,  and  are  remedial  for  dyspep- 
sia and  diabetes.  The  location  is  in  a  mountain-glen, 
and  the  altitude  is  such  as  to  secure  a  delightful 
summer  climate,  and  pure  air  that  appears  to  in- 
vigorate the  visitors  as  much  as,  if  not  more  than, 
the  waters  themselves.  The  Minnequa  Springs  are 
located  north  of  Williamsport,  in  Bradford  County. 
Their  waters  are  strongly  impregnated  with  the 
oxide  of  iron,  and  are  a  tonic  in  their  effect  and  a 
remedy  for  rheumatism  and  cutaneous  diseases. 

Cresson  Springs,  in  Cambria  County,  bubble  up 
curiously  near  the  top  of  the  Alleghanies,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  village  of  Cresson,  a  summer 
resort  located  where  the  Pennsylvania  Central  Rail- 
road crosses  the  mountains,  There  are  in  all  seven 
springs,  though  they  are  not  famed  for  possessing 
any  very  positive  medicinal  properties.  The  waters 
are  impregnated  to  a  certain  extent  with  iron,  and 
in  one  alum  is  found. 


Virginia  Springs.  329 

The  Gettysburg  Springs  were  visited,  by  invalids 
afflicted  with  diseases  of  the  kidneys  or  bladder,  long 
before  the  battle  fought  there  had  given  the  town  a 
world-wide  fame. 

Fayette  Springs. — These  are  in  Fayette  County, 
in  an  elevated  valley  encircled  by  the  upper  ridges 
of  the  Laurel  Mountain.  They  are  amid  romantic 
scenery,  where  cool  and  pure  mountain  air  may  be 
enjoyed.  The  waters  are  not  known  as  being  spe- 
cifically medicinal  in  their  properties.  (Mineral 
Springs,  p.  249.) 

Virginia  Springs. — The  White  Sulphur,  the  most 
important  of  these  springs,  has  for  more  than  a  cent- 
ury been  a  favorite  watering-place.  They  are  in 
Greenbrier  County,  West  Virginia,  near  the  western 
base  of  the  Alleghany  range.  Taking  the  White 
Sulphur  as  a  center,  distant  from  them  thirty-eight 
miles  toward  the  north  are  the  Hot  Springs  ;  the 
Sweet  Springs  are  seventeen  miles  toward  the  east ; 
on  the  south,  twenty-four  miles  distant,  are  the  Salt 
and  Red  Springs  ;  and  toward  the  west,  twenty-six 
miles,  is  the  Blue  Sulphur.  This  constitutes  what  is 
often  designated  "  The  Virginia  Springs  regions  " 
extending  north  and  south  sixty -two  miles  and  east 
and  west  forty-three.  These  springs  are  all  amid 
mountains  that  afford  beautiful  scenery,  while  the 
elevation  is  such  as  to  insure  the  exhilarating  influ- 
ence of  pure  air.  We  can  not  go  into  details,  but 
there  are  in  this  region  forty  or  more  springs 
great  and  small.  The  waters  as  a  general  rule  are 


330  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

charged  with  carbonic  acid,  and  nearly  all  have  sul- 
phur as  an  ingredient  and  some  also  have  alum. 
The  waters  are  usually  tonic  and  claimed  to  be  re- 
medial  for  neuralgia  and  rheumatism. 

Blue  Lick  Springs.  — These  are  in  Nicholas 
County,  Kentucky,  and  are  in  the  valley  of  Licking 
River.  The  waters  belong  to  the  group  known  as 
saline-sulphur,  and  are  deemed  very  fine  of  their 
class.  They  are  efficient  in  relieving  engorgement 
of  the  liver,  gastric  catarrh,  gall-stones,  and  chronic 
diseases  of  the  skin.  These  waters  became  known 
to  the  early  settlers  in  consequence  of  their  observ- 
ing that  the  deer  and  the  buffalo  frequented  the 
springs  in  order  to  lick  the  salt — hence  the  name  ;  the 
deposit  is  of  sulphur,  and  beautifully  blue  in  color. 
In  the  sandstone  rocks,  on  the  hill-sides  bordering 
the  springs,  can  be  seen  pathways,  two  or  three  feet 
deep,  that  were  in  the  course  of  ages  thus  worn  by 
these  animals  passing  and  repassing  in  single  file,  in 
their  visits  to  the  springs. 

Wisconsin  Springs.— This  State  has  two  locali- 
ties in  which  are  mineral  springs ;  both  these  are 
in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  State,  and  near  Lake 
Michigan.  The  Sheboygan  Springs  have  waters 
that  resemble  the  Kissingen  in  Germany.  The  flow 
averages  225  gallons  per  minute  from  an  artesian 
well  that  is  1,475  feet  deep.  The  water  is  celebrated 
as  a  remedy  for  malarial  fever,  and  also  for  kidney 
and  liver  affections.  Directly  south  of  these  springs 
are  the  five  springs  near  Waukesha.  The  most 


Arkansas  Hot  Springs.  331 

noted  of  these  are  the  Bethesda  and  the  Clysmie  ; 
their  waters  are  effective  in  liver  or  kidney  com- 
plaints, Bright's  disease,  etc.,  and  also  disorders  of 
the  stomach.  Large  numbers  of  patients  visit  these 
springs.  (Mineral  Waters,  p.  4.4..) 

The  Dakota  Hot  Springs  are  situated  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Black  Hills.  The  waters 
have  an  average  temperature  of  95°  Fahr. ;  their  me- 
dicinal properties  relieve  rheumatism  and  diseases 
of  the  blood  and  skin,  and  as  such  are  found  to  be 
very  effective. 

Arkansas  Hot  Springs.— A  little  west  of  south  of 
the  springs  in  Wisconsin,  and  at  a  distance  of  more 
than  600  miles,  are  the  Hot  Springs  of  Arkansas. 
These  are  purely  medicinal,  and  have  remarkable 
healing  properties.  The  temperature  of  the  waters 
as  they  issue  from  the  earth  range  from  95°  to  150° 
Fahr.,  while  the  fifty-seven  springs  pour  out  this 
hot  water  at  the  rate  of  350  gallons  each  minute. 
In  the  applications  the  patients  use  baths,  and  the 
results  are  very  marked  in  relieving  if  not  in  re- 
moving scrofulous  and  rheumatic  ailments.  These 
springs,  at  an  elevation  above  tide-water  of  1,500 
feet,  pour  their  waters  from  the  side  of  the  mountain 
into  a  deep  and  narrow  valley,  almost  a  gorge.  Pa- 
tients congregate  here  from  every  portion  of  the 
Union. 

Pagosa  Springs. — New  Mexico  has  a  large  num- 
ber of  medicinal  springs  in  different  parts  of  the  Ter- 
ritory. The  Hot  Springs,  in  the  vicinity  of  Las 


332  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Vegas,  San  Miguel  County,  are  claimed  to  equal 
those  of  Arkansas  in  their  healing  properties.  The 
Pagosa  Hot  Springs  are  on  the  borders  of  Colorado ; 
in  Rio  Arriba  County  are  the  famous  "  Big  medi- 
cine "  of  the  Ute  Indians.  4<  The  largest  of  these 
springs  is  at  least  forty  feet  in  diameter,  and  hot 
enough  to  cook  an  egg  in  a  few  minutes.  Carbonic 
gas  and  steam  bubble  up  in  great  quantities  from 
the  bottom  and  keep  the  surface  always  in  a  state  of 
agitation."  The  temperature  of  the  water  is  140° 
Fahr. ;  their  altitude  is  about  7,000  feet.  There  are 
also  a  number  of  other  springs  in  the  immediate 
vicinity,  besides  a  number  in  different  parts  of  the 
Territory,  as  Ojo  Caliente  and  Santa  Fe. 

Rocky  Mountain  Mineral  Springs. — The  numer- 
ous springs  in  the  elevated  valleys  and  parks  of  this 
entire  mountainous  region  are  claimed  to  compare 
favorably,  in  properties  that  are  curative  in  kidney 
complaints,  with  those  of  the  Hot  Springs  of  Arkan- 
sas, or  those  of  the  waters  of  Waukesha,  Wisconsin. 
(Dr.  Charles  Dennison,  p.  29.) 

The  State  of  Colorado  is  rich  in  mineral  springs, 
and  has  one  locality  where  medicinal  waters  have 
afforded  relief  to  great  numbers  of  invalids.  These 
are  the  Manitou  Springs.  They  are  amid  the  foot- 
hills of  Pike's  Peak,  and  at  an  elevation  of  6,370  feet. 
They  are  six  in  number,  and  about  eighty  miles  south 
of  Denver,  and  five  up  the  mountain  from  the  vil- 
lage of  Colorado  Springs,  on  the  railway.  The 
Manitou  waters,  that  is,  of  the  several  springs,  are 


California  Springs.  333 

used  in  cases  of  "  old  kidney  and  liver  troubles,"  and 
also  in  those  of  general  debility.  These  springs  are 
characterized  as  the  "  Saratoga  of  the  West,"  as  it 
is  a  popular  resort  for  others  besides  invalids,  the 
tonic  properties  of  the  atmosphere  being  an  attrac- 
tion, and  the  waters,  like  those  of  Saratoga,  can  be 
drunk  for  their  own  sake. 

The  medicinal  virtues  of  the  waters  of  these  springs 
were  known  for  ages  to  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity, 
and  they  brought  thither  their  sick  that  they  might 
drink  the  waters  and  bathe  in  them.  As  they  be- 
lieved the  relief  which  their  sick  received  was 
a  gift  direct  from  the  Great  Spirit,  they  called  the 
springs  Manitou.  The  mineral  springs  in  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region,  though  they  may  be  somewhat  dif- 
ferent in  their  characteristics,  amount  to  several 
scores  in  number.  Among  these  in  West  Middle 
Colorado,  in  the  valley  of  the  Grand  River,  are  Glen- 
wood  Springs,  the  waters  of  which  partake  of  the 
general  properties  of  those  in  that  region.  These 
springs  are  of  recent  discovery ;  but  as  access  to 
them  has  become  easy  because  of  the  junction  of  rail- 
ways, the  number  of  visitors  has  much  increased. 

California  Springs. — This  State  claims  to  have 
hot  springs  the  waters  of  which  are  remedial  for 
rheumatism,  gout,  sciatica,  paralysis,  and  cutaneous 
and  blood  diseases,  while  those  of  her  cold  springs 
are  claimed  to  be  beneficial  in  malarial,  intestinal,  and 
biliary  ailments.  The  Napa  Soda  Springs  contain 
magnesia,  lime,  iron,  muriate  of  soda,  with  free  car- 


334  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

bonic-acid  gas.  The  elements  found  in  this  water 
are  very  similar  to  those  in  that  of  the  famous  Carls- 
bad Spring  in  Bohemia.  There  are  also  many  other 
mineral  springs  in  the  State,  of  which  about  twenty 
are  in  the  vicinity  of  Calistoga.  The  waters  of 
these  are  hot,  and  are  impregnated  with  iron,  sulphur, 
and  magnesia.  Within  a  radius  of  twenty-five  miles 
of  the  latter  are  a  number  of  other  springs  which 
partake  of  the  general  ingredients  just  mentioned. 
Among  these  may  be  classed  the  famed  Geyser 
Springs  in  Sonoma  County.  Here  are  hot  springs 
and  cold,  quiet  and  boiling,  sometimes  within  a  few 
feet  of  each  other.  "  Some  of  the  waters  are  clear 
and  transparent;  others  white,  yellow,  or  red  with 
ochre,  while  others  are  of  an  inky  blackness  "  ;  they 
also  differ  as  much  in  taste  and  smell :  some  are  im- 
pregnated with  alum  and  salt,  and  others  are  sul- 
phurous and  fetid  in  odor.  They  afford  almost  a 
certain  cure  for  gout,  rheumatism,  and  skin-diseases. 

The  Gilroy  Hot  Springs,  eighty  miles  south  of 
San  Francisco,  are  on  the  west  slope  of  the  Coast 
Range.  They  vary  in  temperature  from  109°  to  115° 
Fahr.,  and  have  as  ingredients  sulphur,  alum,  iron, 
iodine,  and  magnesia,  with  a  trace  of  arsenic.  There 
are  in  California  more  than  forty  localities  where 
mineral  springs  exist,  and  each  of  these  places  has  a 
number. 

In  many  sections  throughout  the  Union  are  found 
isolated  medicinal  springs,  that  have  a  local  and  un- 
certain reputation,  because  of  cures  which  they  are 


Isolated  Springs.  335 

said  to  have  performed.  As  a  general  rule  the  flow 
of  water  from  these  springs  is  so  very  limited  that, 
even  if  their  remedial  properties  were  valuable,  they 
are,  in  consequence  of  this  deficiency,  of  little  practi- 
cal utility. 


XXXIII. 

HEALTH-RESORTS. 

IN  connection  with  mineral  or  medicinal  springs 
are  sometimes  other  attractions  that  make  their 
vicinity  a  resort  for  those  who  seek  recreation  and 
amusement,  rather  than  rest  from  physical  and  men- 
tal toil,  or  both  combined.  We  have  in  the  United 
States  a  number  of  localities  that  are  purely  health- 
resorts,  and  which  derive  their  character,  as  such, 
either  from  climatic  influences  or  from  elevated  loca- 
tions, that  possess  an  atmosphere  free  from  impuri- 
ties, and  sometimes  from  the  union  of  both  these  ele- 
ments. Since  the  human  system  is  liable  to  become 
weakened  by  the  inroads  of  certain  diseases  that  are 
slow  in  their  progress,  such  as  nervous  debility  in  its 
numerous  forms,  and  pulmonary  complaints  in  their 
various  grades,  it  would  seem  that  remedies  that  are 
correspondingly  slow  in  their  action  are  very  often 
effective.  Thus,  changes  to  more  genial  or  invigor- 
ating climates  are  frequently  found  beneficial,  and, 
though  the  perfect  restoration  to  health  may  not 
always  be  attained  by  the  eradication  of  the  dis- 
ease itself,  yet  these  mitigating  influences  may 


Health-Resorts  in  the  South.  337 

smooth  the  pathway  of  the  invalid,  perhaps,  dur- 
ing many  years.  In  this  manner  health-resorts  are 
fraught  with  blessings  to  multitudes  of  people  living 
in  widely  separate  sections  of  the  country,  who  can 
thus  change  their  residence,  in  order  to  secure 
health.  Other  advantages  of  health-resorts  can  be 
enumerated,  inasmuch  as  in  our  Government  the 
people  themselves  are  deeply  interested,  since,  be- 
ing voters,  they  have  a  certain  responsibility ;  and, 
while  there  is  danger  that,  in  a  territory  so  extensive, 
diversified  interests  may  clash,  yet  an  antidote  to 
such  evil  is  present  in  the  frequent  intercourse 
among  the  people  of  the  different  sections,  which 
has  the  effect  of  removing  prejudices,  and  of  in- 
ducing a  sentiment  of  nationality  and  sympathy  as 
between  the  members  of  the  same  Nation. 

Health- Resorts  east  of  the  Alleghanies. — Many 
localities  in  the  White  Mountains,  because  of  their 
altitude,  have  the  reputation  of  affording  relief  to 
those  afflicted  with  asthma  and  hay-  or  rose-fever. 
Similar  places  are  said  to  be  found  in  the  Catskills 
and  in  the  Alleghanies ;  notably  at  Altoona  and 
Cresson  in  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  southern  Atlantic  slope  are  three  promi- 
nent health-resorts :  first,  in  certain  localities  in 
Florida ;  and,  second,  in  the  highlands  of  Western 
South  Carolina ;  and  the  third,  in  Southwestern 
North  Carolina.  The  climate  of  Florida  is  unusu- 
ally affected  by  its  surroundings  of  water — the 
most  important  in  influence  being  the  Gulf  Stream. 
23 


338   Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

This  flows  along  its  eastern  coast,  and  imparts  to  the 
land  atmosphere  a  portion  of  its  own  warmth  of  air, 
so  charged  with  vapor  that,  though  the  tempera- 
ture may  be  high,  there  is  no  indication  of  parch- 
ing dryness.  Even  in  winter  the  atmosphere  is 
balmy  and  pleasantly,  invigorating.  The  winds 
coming  from  off  the  ocean  are  the  northern  sur- 
plusage of  the  trade-winds,  and  are  usually  from 
north  of  east,  while  those  at  certain  seasons  com- 
ing from  the  southwest  are  moderated  by  the  waters 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  climate  is,  therefore,  re- 
markably uniform,  there  being  no  sudden  nor  great 
changes. 

Great  numbers  from  the  more  northern  portions 
of  the  Union  resort  to  Florida  in  search  of  health; 
among  these  are  included  those  also  who  are  not 
absolutely  invalids,  but  their  health  and  constitutions 
have  become  so  much  impaired  that  they  seek  a 
milder  climate  than  is  afforded  by  chilling  snows  and 
bleak  winds,  and  in  Florida  they  find  the  needed 
tonic  in  an  air  deliciously  fresh  and  balmy,  and 
pleasantly  fragrant  with  the  perfume  of  flowers. 
Thousands  of  these  invalids  seek  relief,  especially 
from  pulmonary  complaints,  and  perhaps  as  many 
more  for  relaxation  for  a  time  from  the  wear  of 
mental  toil  or  from  the  harassing  cares  of  business. 
Nor  must  it  be  overlooked  that  this  pleasant  region 
can  be  reached  within  a  day  or  two  from  the  snow 
and  ice  and  bleak  skies  of  the  North. 

Covington. — In  connection  with  Florida  may  be 


Coving  ton — A  iken.  339 

noted  a  district  in  Louisiana  which  partakes  of  many 
characteristics  of  an  extreme  Southern  health-resort. 
Some  physicians  of  New  Orleans  claim  that  pecul- 
iarity for  a  district  north  of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  of 
which  the  village  of  Covington  may  be  deemed  the 
center.  The  region  lies  comparatively  high  above 
the  coast-level,  and  in  the  midst  of  pine-woods ; 
the  soil  is  dry,  and  the  vicinity  is  sheltered  from 
"  northers,"  which  otherwise  in  that  section  of  the 
country  sometimes  burst  upon  the  land.  The  air 
is  soft  and  free  from  the  usual  dampness  from  off 
the  Gulf,  and  in  the  winter  months  the  region  is 
very  healthful.  It  is  claimed  by  some  to  be  almost 
a  specific  in  "  its  soft  and  piny  atmosphere "  for 
pulmonary  diseases  or  bronchial  troubles,  healing 
diseased  lungs,  and  restoring  worn-out  humanity. 

Aiken. — In  Western  South  Carolina  the  village 
of  Aiken  may  be  taken  as  near  the  center  of  the 
health-resort  area  of  the  State,  which,  according  to 
an  authority  (Handbook  of  South  Carolina,  p.  122),  is 
2,000  square  miles.  The  general  temperature  is 
very  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  Santa  Barbara, 
California.  The  atmosphere  of  the  region  is  re- 
markably dry,  but  bracing.  The  elevation — 700 
feet  above  the  ocean — and  the  subsoil  being  sandy, 
render  the  earth  dry,  while  the  waters  of  the  springs 
and  wells  are  very  excellent  because  of  their  pure- 
ness.  The  prevailing  winds  are  from  the  south  and 
southwest,  and  the  climate  during  the  winter  may 
be  termed  balmy,  there  being,  as  a  rule,  scarcely 


34-O  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

any  snow,  and  that  melting  almost  immediately 
after  reaching  the  ground.  "  These  sanitary  con- 
ditions are  present  with  the  terebinthinate  (qualities 
of  turpentine)  and  the  healing  odors  of  a  great  pine- 
forest."  This  region  is  sought  by  numbers  of  those 
afflicted  with  sensitive  lungs,  and  who  wish  to 
avoid  the  harsh  winds  of  the  winter  season  in  the 
North. 

Asheville. — In  a  west  of  north  direction  from 
Aiken,  about  140  miles,  is  another  health-resort 
area,  but  whose  characteristics  are  different,  its  ele- 
vation being  more  than  three  times  that  of  Aiken. 
The  central  position  of  this  area  is  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  pleasant  village  of  Asheville,  in  the  county  of 
Buncombe,  in  Southwestern  North  Carolina.  This 
village  is  2,250  feet  above  tide-water,  and  is  situated 
between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Alleghanies,  "in 
the  lovely  valley  of  the  French  Broad,"  a  tributary 
of  the  Tennessee.  "  It  is  surrounded  by  an  amphi- 
theatre of  hills,  commanding  one  of  the  finest  mount- 
ain views  in  the  Union."  This  district  having  been 
so  much  frequented  as  a  health-resort,  it  has  been 
found  expedient  to  establish  there  "  a  sanitarium 
for  consumptives,  the  sunny  hills  of  this  locality 
offering  ample  facilities  for  out-door  life."  This 
entire  region  has  a  remarkably  equable  climate, 
mild  and  dry,  and  specially  adapted  to  mitigate 
the  ravages  of  pulmonary  complaints,  and,  in  con- 
sequence, here  are  found  such  patients  both  sum- 
mer and  winter. 


A  Dry  and  Cold  Climate.  341 

Walden  Ridge. — West  of  Asheville,  a  hundred 
miles  or  more  in  East  Tennessee,  amid  the  Cumber- 
land Mountains,  are  table-lands  some  2,000  feet 
above  the  ocean,  where  the  inhabitants  are  virtually 
exempt  from  pulmonary  diseases,  "  consumption  be- 
ing almost  unknown  among  the  natives."  This  pla- 
teau is  known  as  Walden  Ridge.  It  is  quite  ele- 
vated, the  air  is  remarkably  pure,  and,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  physicians  who  have  studied  the  subject,  this 
entire  region  has  the  elements  that  constitute  a  valu- 
able health-resort.  "  Southern  Georgia  supplies  in 
winter  a  sanitarium  for  pulmonary  diseases,  and 
Northern  Georgia  in  summer  for  malarial  diseases 
and  fever;  indeed,  for  lung-diseases  also."  (Common- 
wealth of  Georgia,  p.  12.) 

A  Dry  and  Cold  Climate. — It  often  appears,  in 
pulmonary  complaints,  that  some  victims  find  the 
heat  debilitating,  in  a  southern  and  warm  climate, 
though  the  air  may  be  fresh  and  pure,  and  they  re- 
quire a  cooler  atmosphere,  but  one  equally  pure. 
This  requirement  is  found,  perhaps,  more  perfectly 
in  the  State  of  Minnesota  and  the  adjacent  region, 
than  elsewhere  in  the  Union.  The  entire  elevated 
region — whose  average  altitude  is  about  1,200  feet- 
lying  west  of  Wisconsin  to  the  Pacific  slope,  when 
fully  tested,  may  be  found  favorable  as  health-resorts 
for  pulmonary  diseases.  The  severe  cold  and  bright 
skies  in  winter,  with  a  dry  and  fresh  atmosphere,  ren- 
der the  climate  of  Minnesota  very  exhilarating,  and 
an  almost  certain  antidote  to  lung-diseases  in  their 


342  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

incipient  stages.  This  is  a  natural  result  of  strength- 
ening the  system,  because  the  dry,  bracing  air  induces 
an  appetite  for  plain,  substantial  food,  which  appears 
to  be  more  easily  assimilated  in  a  cold  than  in  a 
warm  climate,  and  thereby  the  system  of  the  invalid 
is  invigorated  and  vivified  with  new  life.  That  this 
climate  is  bracing  to  the  human  constitution,  and 
never  or  seldom  debilitating,  is  the  testimony  of 
those  who  have  practically  tested  its  properties. 
"  Very  many  of  those  now  residing  in  the  State 
were  induced  to  come  hither  because  of  bronchial  or 
pulmonary  ailments,  and  in  all  cases  relief  was  expe- 
rienced, and  most  of  them  have  fully  recovered." 
(Minnesota  Illustrated,  p.  14..)  The  average  annual 
death-rate  in  the  United  States  is  one  in  74;  in  Min- 
nesota it  is  one  in  112.  The  latter  includes  invalids 
who  were  from  outside  the  State,  and,  suffering  with 
chronic  diseases,  came  there  to  obtain  relief  "  when 
their  vitality  was  so  far  exhausted  as  to  render  re- 
covery scarcely  possible." 

A  Dry  Climate;  Altitude  and  Sunshine. — These 
three  elements,  when  combined  with  a  mild  and 
equable  temperature  and  pure  air,  make  a  paradise 
for  invalids,  especially  those  who  are  afflicted  with 
lung-diseases.  The  latter  are  the  most  difficult  of 
all  chronic  complaints  to  alleviate,  much  less  to  cure, 
because  the  organs  wherein  the  disease  is  seated  can 
not  possibly  have  rest  or  time  to  recuperate,  but 
must  be  kept  in  motion  constantly.  The  three  con- 
ditions mentioned  above  are  found  to  a  great  degree 


Colorado ;   a  Health-Resort.  343 

in  Colorado,  especially  in  the  southern  portion  and 
on  the  plains  in  the  vicinity  of  Denver.  The  climate 
there  is  comparatively  dry,  as  the  clouds  from  off 
both  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  are  nearly  ex- 
hausted before  they  reach  that  region ;  cold  days 
are  few  in  number,  and  snow  falls  but  lightly  and  re- 
mains only  for  a  short  time,^and  the  days  of  contin- 
uous sunshine  and  cloudless  skies  are  in  the  great 
majority.  "  According  to  the  records  of  the  Signal- 
Service  office  at  Denver,  there  were  only  seventeen 
days  from  January  i,  1873,  to  September,  1878 — five 
years  and  nine  months — in  which  the  sun  was  invisi- 
ble throughout  the  whole  day."  (Dr.  Dennison,p.  72.) 
Says  another  authority :  "  No  one  need  be  afraid  of 
the  sunlight  of  Colorado.  It  has  all  the  good  effects 
of  sunlight  in  other  countries,  with  none  of  its  ener- 
vating influence,  so  common  elsewhere."  Let  the 
consumptive  bask  in  it  and  enjoy  all  he  can  "the 
beneficial  effects  of  the  chemical  action  of  sunlight 
on  the  blood.  .  .  .  While  desirable  coolness  increases 
the  oxygen-containing  capacity  of  the  atmosphere, 
altitude  has,  also,  a  counter-influence,  and  necessi- 
tates an  active  out-door  life  to  insure  the  best  results." 
Though  the  temperature  is  not  so  mild  as  that  of 
Florida  or  Southern  California,  and  though  the  cli- 
mate differs  in  being  influenced  by  a  greater  altitude, 
yet  in  the  main  it  is  genial  to  consumptive  invalids, 
and  experience  shows  that  the  disease  in  its  earlier 
stages  may  be  cured ;  but,  if  otherwise,  the  patient 
can  be  greatly  relieved.  The  altitude  of  Denver  is 


344  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

5,200  feet,  and  any  desirable  greater  altitude  can  be 
reached  within  100  miles. 

The  Territory  of  Utah  lays  claim  in  many  re- 
spects to  be  a  health-resort  for  consumptives.  Says 
a  United  States  surgeon :  "  In  an  experience  of  three 
years  and  a  half  in  Utah,  I  have  not  seen  a  case  of 
consumption  that  originated  in  the  Territory."  In 
respect  to  freedom  from  lung-diseases  of  the  native 
residents  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  portions  of 
which  in  the  near  future  will  no  doubt  become 
health-resorts,  says  Dr.  Irwin,  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  as 
-quoted  by  Dr.  Dennison  :  "  During  a  seven  years'  resi- 
dence in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  I  never  saw  or 
heard  of  a  case  of  tuberculous  disease  among  the 
native  inhabitants  of  those  Territories." 

Asthma. — In  this  connection,  we  may  say  that  all 
the  elevated  region  including  Colorado,  Utah,  New 
Mexico,  and  Arizona  is  a  vast  house  of  refuge  for 
those  afflicted  with  that  wearisome  and  painful  affec- 
tion— the  asthma.  Thither  come  multitudes  to  be 
relieved.  Recently  a  record  of  these  invalids  was 
made,  and  it  was  found  that  they  had  come  from 
twenty-three  States. 

A  Balmy  Climate  near  the  Pacific. — The  south- 
ern portion  of  California  may  well  be  described  as  a 
universal  health-resort.  In  a  curve  of  the  south- 
west foot-hills  of  the  Coast  Range  is  located  the  old 
town  of  Santa  Barbara.  This  is  known  as  one  of 
the  most  desirable  and  most  frequented  of  any  of 
the  resorts  in  that  region.  Many  of  its  climatic  ad- 


A   Charming  Locality.  345 

vantages  are  due  to  its  peculiar  situation,  it  being 
nearly  encircled  on  the  north  and  northwest  by  the 
foot-hills  and  mountains  from  three  to  four  thousand 
feet  high,  and  on  the  south  and  southwest  by  the  Pa- 
cific, upon  which  it  looks  out  from  its  sheltered 
nook.  The  town  is  distributed  over  about  three 
square  miles,  so  that  there  is  plenty  of  breathing- 
room  for  the  citizens.  The  population  is  about 
6,000,  and  it  is  estimated  that  one  half  have  come 
thither  to  find  shelter  from  disease,  and  to  seek 
health.  Great  numbers  of  these  have  come  from  the 
New  England  States,  and  generally  from  the  north- 
ern portions  of  the  Union,  and  principally  on  ac- 
count of  consumptive  ailments,  of  which  they  wish 
to  free  themselves.  This  whole  region  is  deservedly 
popular  because  of  its  health-preserving  properties, 
and  multitudes  go  there  who  are  not  blessed  by 
Nature  with  strong  constitutions,  and  must  seek  a  less 
harsh  climate — some  to  remain  permanently,  and 
others  only  until  their  restored  health  will  authorize 
them  to  return  to  their  original  homes. 

Santa  Barbara  is  a  charming  locality  :  orange- 
trees  are  found  everywhere  ;  roses  abound  both  win- 
ter and  summer.  "  Verbena-beds  are  cut  down  like 
grass  thrice  a  year,  but  spring  up  again  stronger 
than  ever ;  the  heliotrope  climbs  twenty  feet  high 
upon  a  support."  In  Los  Angeles  great  numbers  of 
the  inhabitants  are  temporary  residents,  some  for 
pleasure,  but  more  in  pursuit  of  health,  especially 
those  affected  with  pulmonary  complaints.  San 


346  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Diego,  about  130  miles  southeast  of  Los  Angeles,  is 
claimed  to  have  "  the  mildest  and  sunniest  winter 
climate  on  the  coast."  This  locality  is  not  at  present 
so  accessible,  but  it  is  equally  as  charming  and  health- 
preserving.  The  climates  of  Santa  Barbara,  Los 
Angeles,  and  San  Diego,  because  of  the  great  humid- 
ity of  the  atmosphere,  have  been  compared  by 
writers  to  the  warm  and  moist  climates  of  the  basin 
of  the  Mediterranean.  This  balmy  and  health-giv- 
ing influence  extends  down  the  coast  to  and  beyond 
the  Mexican  line. 

Yellowstone  Park.  -  -  This  park,  which  is  set 
apart  by  Congress  for  the  use  of  the  people  of  the 
Union,  gives  indications  of  becoming  a  valuable  health- 
resort  as  well  as  one  for  recreation.  Prof.  Edward 
Frankland,  of  England,  an  eminent  physician  and 
scientist,  in  "  The  Popular  Science  Monthly,"  July, 
1885,  says:  "  The  great  importance  of  a  winter  sani- 
tarium for  patients  suffering  from  or  threatened  with 
consumption  and  other  allied  diseases  has  long  been 
recognized  and  acted  upon  in  Europe."  He  then 
compares  the  favorite  health-resorts  of  Europe,  in 
the  secluded  valley  of  Davos,  in  the  Engadine,  in 
Switzerland,  with  that  of  the  Yellowstone  Park,  say- 
ing that  the  latter  "rivals  if  it  does  not  surpass 
Davos  in  the  excellence  of  its  winter  climatic  condi- 
tions." The  elevation  of  Davos  is  5,400  feet  above 
the  sea,  that  of  Yellowstone  Park  is  between  7,000 
and  8,000.  He  continues  :  "  Invalids  could  remain  in 
the  dry  atmosphere  of  the  latter  till  the  first  of  May, 


Yellowstone —  Health-Resort.  347 

while  the  moisture  at  Davos  from  melting  snows 
compels  them  to  leave  early  in  March.  ...  It  is  to 
be  expected,  from  this  greater  elevation,  that  a 
clearer  sky  and  a  larger  proportion  of  sunny  days 
would  be  experienced  in  the  Yellowstone  Park, 
while  the  wholesomeness  of  the  air  would  be  still 
more  marked,  owing  to  its  comparatively  greater 
freedom  from  zymotic  matter." 

Dr.  Frankland,  after  investigation,  thus  sums  up 
in  respect  to  the  Park  :  "  Dedicated  during  the  win- 
ter months  to  the  purposes  I  have  advocated,  it 
would  constitute  a  winter  sanitarium  unequaled  in 
the  world,  restoring  to  health  and  vigor,  not  only 
persons  suffering  from  incipient  chest-disease,  but 
also  those  of  the  overworked  populations  of  the 
States  and  of  Canada." 


XXXIV. 

RAINFALL — OCEAN-CURRENTS. 

THE  United  States  possess  a  natural  resource  in 
a  soil,  taken  as  a  whole,  uniformly  fertile  ;  but  what 
would  be  its  worth,  were  it  not  stimulated  by  the 
bright  sunshine  and  the  abundant  rainfall,  to  put 
forth  its  energies  in  growing  and  maturing  crops? 
The  intelligent  reader  will  be  interested  in  tracing 
causes  of  this  copious  rainfall,  while  he  recognizes 
the  sunshine  as  a  gift  direct  from  the  same  beneficent 
Creator. 

As  we  ascertain  causes  and  trace  their  influence, 
how  clearly  becomes  the  evidence  of  the  Creator's 
design,  as  manifested  in  the  mode  by  which  He  has 
made  provision  for  the  requisite  moisture  to  vivify 
the  productions  of  the  earth,  and  also  provided  for 
warming  its  colder  regions  and  for  cooling  those  that 
would  be  otherwise  intensely  hot — and  all  by  using 
the  currents  of  oceans,  whose  movements  He  has  es- 
tablished ! 

In  considering  the  ocean-currents  we  will  notice 
their  effect  upon  the  climate  and  rainfall  of  our  own 
country,  as  it  will  be  seen  that  North  America,  and 


The  Means  to  an  End.  349 

especially  the  United  States,  owing  to  their  central 
position  in  that  continent,  derives  as  much  if  not 
more  benefit  from  the  two  currents — the  Japanese  in 
the  Pacific,  and  the  north  equatorial  in  the  Atlan- 
tic— than  both  Asia  and  Europe  combined.  If  the 
lands  in  the  southern  hemisphere  were  as  extensive 
as  those  in  the  northern,  there  could  exist  no  inex- 
haustible reservoir  of  water  like  the  Antarctic  Ocean. 
Eternal  desolation  and  dryness,  induced  by  cold, 
would  reign  over  the  greater  portion  of  both  the 
northern  and  southern  hemispheres,  while  within  the 
tropics,  with  scarcely  an  alleviation,  a  dryness  in- 
duced by  intense  heat  would  hold  sway.  To  man,  as 
at  present  constituted,  such  climates  would  be  intol- 
erable. 

The  Means  to  an  End. — The  arrangements  de- 
signed to  secure  the  desired  ends  seem  to  be  per- 
fect. The  extreme  of  one  continent  (South  Amer- 
ica) penetrates  this  great  Antarctic  reservoir  like 
a  wedge,  on  either  side  of  which  currents  of  water, 
in  consequence  of  the  centrifugal  force  generated  by 
the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth,  rush  toward  the 
equator,  under  similar  conditions  and  force,  as  did 
originally  the  surface  portions  of  the  mass  of  the 
earth  itself,  when,  in  its  fluid  state,  it  was  set  revolv- 
ing on  its  axis.  This  fluid  mass  of  earthy  matter 
continued  thus  to  flow  from  either  pole  until  along 
the  entire  length  of  the  equator,  as  a  middle  line 
around  the  globe,  was  accumulated  a  protuberance 
— its  greatest  depth  being  thirteen  and  a  quarter 


350  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

miles  on  that  line.  This  fluid  mass  finally  hardened 
into  the  present  permanent  form.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  the  rate  of  the  earth's  revolution  on  its 
axis  has  either  been  increased  or  diminished  since  it 
received  its  first  impulse. 

Currents  of  Water  and  of  Air. — The  main  cur- 
rent, coming  up  on  the  east  of  South  America,  di- 
vides itself  on  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  thence  a  por- 
tion goes  into  the  Indian  Ocean,  and,  because  of  its 
coldness  and  passing  out  slowly,  gives  the  latter  a 
lower  temperature,  thus  mitigating  the  heat  of  the 
surrounding  lands.  The  other  portion  of  the  cur- 
rent, in  which  we  Americans  are  more  interested, 
sweeps  up  along  the  west  side  of  Africa,  meanwhile 
moderating  by  its  coolness  the  temperature  of  the 
latter's  southern  part,  which  otherwise  would  be 
"  fiercely  heated  by  the  rays  of  a  tropical  sun."  On 
approaching  the  equator  it  comes  still  more  under 
the  influence  of  the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth,  and 
its  course  is  gradually  deflected  toward  the  north- 
west and  finally  directly  west,  and  thus  continues 
across  the  Atlantic.  The  earth,  in  its  revolution 
eastward  on  its  axis,  literally  turns  under  the  water, 
which  does  not  fully  get  its  motion,  but  is  left,  and 
practically  moves  toward  the  west.  The  trade- 
winds  are  attributed  to  the  same  cause.  The  colder 
and  denser  air  of  the  extremes,  north  and  south, 
presses  toward  the  warm  tropics,  where,  becoming 
rarefied  and  lighter  because  of  the  heat,  it  floats  up- 
ward to  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  thus 


Origin  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  351 

making  a  partial  vacuum,  to  fill  which  the  cold  and 
comparatively  heavy  air  from  the  poles  rushes  in,  to 
be  in  turn  rarefied  and  set  afloat ;  this  process  goes 
on  unceasingly.  The  weight  of  the  air  is  lighter  in 
the  tropics  than  in  the  temperate  zones ;  for  that 
reason  the  height  of  the  barometer  on  the  equator  at 
the  level  of  the  ocean  is  less  than  anywhere  else. 
Experiment  shows  that  at  10°  latitude,  either  side  of 
that  line,  the  barometer  is  nearly  4°  higher,  owing  to 
the  greater  density  of  the  atmosphere.  The  natural 
course  of  these  winds  coming  from  the  north  and 
south  poles  toward  the  equator  would  be  on  merid- 
ian or  direct  lines,  were  it  not  for  the  earth  in  its 
rotary  motion  running  against  them,  and,  somewhat 
like  a  railway-car  in  motion  creates  a  breeze,  while 
also  changing  their  course,  so  that  north  of  the  equa- 
tor they  first  blow  from  the  northeast,  and  south  of 
the  same  line  from  the  southeast,  but,  soon  blending 
together  on  one  common  line,  they  press  directly 
west  across  and  beyond  the  Atlantic.  The  air  being 
much  lighter  than  water,  these  trade-winds  acquire  a 
correspondingly  greater  velocity  than  the  currents 
of  the  latter.  The  winds  return  only  partially  into 
themselves,  they  having  the  circuit  of  the  earth  for 
their  limit;  but  the  ocean-currents  do,  because  their 
boundaries  are  the  shores  of  the  adjoining  continents, 
which  obstruct  their  flow. 

Origin  of  the  Gulf  Stream. — Let  us  briefly  notice 
the  principal  current  of  the  Atlantic,  which  furnishes 
so  much  heat  and  moisture  to  Western  Europe,  while 


352  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

at  the  same  time  it  is  indirectly  equally  essential  in 
conferring  a  copious  rainfall  upon  the  interior  of  our 
own  country.  At  a  point  on  or  near  the  equator  a 
little  west  of  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  this  current — the 
Atlantic  equatorial — takes  a  due  west  course,  as  there 
the  impetus  received  from  the  motion  of  the  earth 
has  its  full  influence  and  impels  it  in  that  direction. 
(Apfletons  Physical  Geography,  p.  57.)  The  first  ob- 
struction in  its  path  is  Cape  St.  Roque,  South  Ameri- 
ca, upon  which  it  divides ;  a  portion  passing  to  the 
southwest  along  the  coast,  and  which  is  known  as 
the  Brazil  Current,  but  the  much  greater  portion  is 
deflected  toward  the  northwest.  The  latter  sweeps 
along  the  northeast  and  the  north  coast  of  South 
America,  carrying  with  it  evidently  a  large  portion 
of  the  waters  of  the  Amazon,  the  Orinoco,  and  the 
Magdalena — all  warmed  by  a  tropical  climate.  It 
continues  on  westward  through  the  Caribbean  Sea ; 
a  large  portion  of  the  current  passing  northward 
through  the  Yucatan  Passage  to  a  point  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  opposite  the  straits  between  Florida  and 
Cuba,  where  it  turns  eastward  through  the  latter 
straits.  That  point  is  500  miles  west  of  the  straits, 
and  a  little  greater  distance  southeast  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

Here  also  this  current  absorbs  a  large  portion  of 
the  warm  waters  of  the  Rio  Grande,  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  of  the  Mobile  and  other  rivers.  The 
waters  of  these  rivers  flowing  into  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico must  have  an  outlet  Somewhere ;  there  is  only 


An  Errand  of  Blessings.  353 

one,  however,  and  that  is  made  available  by  means 
of  their  blending  with  this  ocean-current  that  comes 
up  through  the  Yucatan  Passage,  while  they  are 
somewhat  diminished  by  evaporation.  Finally,  this 
current  rushes  out  into  the  Atlantic  between  Florida 
and  Cuba,  at  the  rate  of  nearly  five  miles  an  hour, 
and  in  a  volume  more  than  forty  miles  wide  and 
nearly  3,000  feet  deep.  (Appletons  Physical  Geog- 
raphy, p.  60.)  Now,  under  the  name  of  the  Gulf 
Stream — after  being  joined  east  of  the  straits  by  a 
similar  warm  ocean-current  flowing  west  along  the 
north  coast  of  Cuba — this  mass  of  waters  starts  to- 
ward the  northeast  on  an  errand  of  blessings  for  the 
western  shores  of  Europe.  At  first  the  onward 
movement  is  so  rapid  that  the  warm  water,  as  it 
naturally  would,  has  apparently  not  time  to  rise 
sufficiently  high  to  overflow,  but  forces  its  way 
through  the  surrounding  waters.  In  advancing  the 
stream  deflects  gradually  from  the  coast,  its  rate  of 
speed  diminishes,  and  its  waters  begin  to  expand 
over  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  while  its  depth  grows 
less  and  less.  Opposite  Cape  Hatteras  the  stream 
swerves  nearly  one  hundred  miles  from  the  coast 
and  is  seventy-five  miles  wide  and  much  diminished 
in  depth,  though  its  surface  temperature  is  scarcely 
changed.  This  immense  volume  of  water,  estimated 
to  equal  a  thousand  Mississippis  at  full  flow,  has  a 
temperature  on  the  surface,  when  leaving  the  Gulf, 
ranging  from  80°  to  82°  Fahr.  The  aggregate  heat 

thus  obtained  is  in  consequence  of  its  passing  under 
24 


354  Natiiral  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

a  tropical  sun  more  than  4,000  miles,  including  the 
curves  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  through  the  Yuca- 
tan Passage,  together  with  the  accumulation  of  the 
warm  waters  from  the  rivers  mentioned,  so  that  the 
stream  through  the  greater  part  of  its  course  is  on  an 
average  from  10°  to  15°  warmer  than  the  surrounding 
waters.  The  water  of  the  Gulf  Stream  has  been  de- 
scribed "as  clear  as  crystal  and  intensely  blue." 

Effect  on  Climate. — The  nearness  of  the  stream 
to  the  coast  of  the  Florida  Peninsula  has  a  modify- 
ing influence  in  producing  in  that  region  a  climate 
unusually  equable ;  but  as  it  recedes  from  the  coast 
the  northeastern  portion  of  the  Atlantic  slope  de- 
rives from  it  little  if  any  benefit,  since  the  prevailing 
winds  in  that  region  come  from  the  west  or  north- 
west, and  drive  toward  the  east  the  warm  vapors 
rising  from  off  the  Gulf  Stream,  while  in  addition 
there  flows  from  the  northeast  a  cold  current  be- 
tween that  stream  and  the  coast.  "  In  the  North 
Atlantic  the  west  winds  prevail  to  such  a  degree, 
that  the  average  passage  of  fast-sailing  vessels  from 
America  to  Europe  can  be  made  about  two  thirds 
shorter  than  on  the  same  route  from  Europe  to 
America."  (Prof.  Guyot,  Earth  and  Man,  p.  98.) 

The  Compensation. — But  for  this  lack  of  warmth 
and  moisture  derived  from  the  Gulf  Stream  on  the 
middle  and  northern  part  of  the  Atlantic  slope, 
ample  compensation  is  given  to  another  and  much 
larger  portion  of  the  Union — the  basin  or  valley  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  latter  section  derives  a  bene- 


The  Immense  Evaporation.  355 

fit  in  its  rainfall,  almost  infinitely  greater  to  the  na- 
tion than  if  the  influence  were  felt  only  on  the  terri- 
tory east  of  the  Alleghany  range  of  mountains.  In 
addition,  a  large  amount  of  the  moisture  that  blesses 
the  foot-hills  and  intervening  valleys  lying  along  the 
eastern  side  of  the  latter  range  up  to  the  parallel  of 
42°  is  derived  principally  from  the  surplusage  or 
overflow  of  the  vapor-loaded  winds  from  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  which  move  east  over  and 
through  the  mountains.  The  great  benefits  thus 
conferred  upon  the  United  States  by  the  Atlantic 
equatorial  current  are  derived  indirectly  from  the 
vast  evaporation  of  water  from  off  its  surface. 
This  current  is  about  3,000  miles  wide  north  and 
south,  and  moves  toward  the  west  at  the  rate  of 
thirty  or  thirty-five  miles  a  day  for  more  than  4,000 
miles,  and  while  thus  under  a  broiling  tropical  sun 
its  waters  are  heated,  on  an  average,  from  80°  to  82° 
Fahr. 

During  this  passage  there  is  continually  going  on 
a  steaming  process  of  evaporation  by  which  it  is  es- 
timated that  "  off  this  ocean-belt  there  is  in  the  form 
of  vapor  annually  floated  up  into  the  higher  air  fif- 
teen feet  of  water."  (Maurys  Geography  of  the  Sea, 
p.  102.)  "  The  sun  causes  these  invisible  vapors  to 
rise,  which,  being  lighter  than  the  air  itself,  increas- 
ingly tend  to  soar  into  the  upper  atmosphere,  filling 
it,  and  constituting  within  it  another  aqueous  at- 
mosphere." (Prof.  Guyot,  Earth  and  Man,  p.  85.} 
These  vapors  in  their  ascending  movement  encount- 


356  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

er  the  colder  layers  of  the  higher  regions  of  the 
air,  and  thereby  they  are  somewhat  cooled,  and  un- 
der the  form  of  clouds  or  fogs  are  borne  along  by 
the  winds,  and  finally  descend  in  rain  to  fertilize  and 
cause  the  earth  to  bloom. 

Sources  of  Rainfall  in  the  Valley. — The  trade- 
winds,  saturated,  as  we  have  seen,  by  invisible  va- 
pors, rushing  west  across  the  Atlantic,  meet  their  first 
obstruction  in  the  plateau  of  Mexico,  and  especially 
in  the  Sierra  Madre  Mountains  on  its  western  bor- 
der. The  latter  are  on  an  average  about  9,000  feet 
above  the  sea — nearly  two  miles — and  stand  across 
the  path  of  these  saturated  winds  at  an  angle  that 
deflects  them  toward  the  north.  Thus  checked  in 
their  onward  progress,  the  different  strata  of  this  air 
in  motion  are  shoved  up  one  upon  another,  because 
of  the  continuous  pressure  from  the  east.  The  up- 
per currents  surge  high  into  the  atmosphere,  even 
so  far  that  the  influence  of  the  rotary  motion  of  the 
earth  must  be  quite  diminished,  while  the  natural  at- 
traction toward  the  north  pole  to  restore  the  equi- 
librium, causes  this  air  to  flow  in  that  direction,  as 
on  an  inclined  plane,  over  the  colder  and  therefore 
denser  strata  of  the  air  beneath,  till  it  reaches  the 
surface  of  the  earth.  That  point  in  summer  is  about 
30°  north  latitude,  but — by  a  wonderful  provision — in 
the  winter,  when  the  surface  air  is  colder  and  more 
dense,  the  earth  is  reached  much  farther  north,  where 
the  warmth  is  especially  needed.  These  winds,  still 
holding  vapor  or  water  in  solution,  and  flowing  in 


Trade- Winds  deflected  Northward.       357 

this  direction,  are  characterized  as  the  "anti-  or  re- 
turn-trades "  by  meteorologists. 

The  Trade-Winds  deflected  northward.  —  It  is 
evident  that  these  trade-winds  of  the  tropics  do  not 
pass  over  the  Sierra  Madre  or  Mexican  Mountains, 
and  thus  continue  their  westerly  course,  as  there  is 
no  indication  of  their  presence  on  the  west  side  of 
that  range,  nor  on  that  portion  of  the  ocean  immedi- 
ately adjoining  the  coast.  On  the  contrary,  the  ef- 
fect of  the  revolving  motion  of  the  earth  on  the  at- 
mosphere becomes  perceptible  only  at  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  west  of  Mexico,  for  near  that 
point  the  Pacific  trades  have  their  origin,  similar  in 
manner  to  that  of  the  trades  of  the  Atlantic  ;  the  lat- 
ter having  their  origin  at  about  the  same  distance 
west  of  the  coast  of  Africa.  Says  Prof.  Orton  ( The  An- 
des and  the  Amazon,  p.  118),  in  citing  an  analogous  case, 
that  of  the  Andes :  "  So  effective  is  that  barrier  that 
the  trade-winds  are  not  felt  again  on  the  Pacific  till 
you  are  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  coast." 
It  is  clear  that  the  north  flank  of  these  Atlantic 
trades  thus  obstructed,  and  meanwhile  pressed  from 
the  east,  must  find  vent  somewhere  ;  they  can  not 
pass  toward  the  south,  because  of  the  greater  force 
of  the  main  current,  and  as  we  have  seen  they  do  not 
pass  over  the  Sierra  Madre,  it  follows  that  their  only 
outlet  lies  toward  the  north,  and  in  that  direction  they 
must  necessarily  be  driven.  That  such  is  the  case  is 
confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  angle  at  which  they 
strike  the  mountains  would  deflect  them  almost  due 


35 8  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

north.  Mr.  G.  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  U.  S.  geolo- 
gist and  explorer,  expressed  the  opinion,  nearly  half 
a  century  ago,  that  these  saturated  trade-winds,  in 
being  deflected  north  by  the  Sierra  Madre  Mount- 
ains, furnished  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  with  its 
rainfall. 

The  Gulf  a  Source  of  Rainfall. — It  has  been  vir- 
tually assumed  that  the  evaporation  off  the  waters  of 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  alone  supplies  the  rainfall  of  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  "  By  far  the  greater  por- 
tion " — of  the  rainfall,  meaning  for  all  the  country— 
"  comes  from  the  Gulf  and  spreads  over  the  central  and 
eastern  part  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  even  much 
of  the  Atlantic  plain  "  or  slope.  Again  :  "  The  warm 
southerly  air-currents,  loaded  with  moisture  from  the 
Gulf,  pass  up  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  etc.  Here  the 
influence  of  the  return-trades,  heavily  saturated  with 
vapor  and  driven  north,  as  we  have  seen,  from  the 
Sierra  Madre,  are  ignored.  Let  full  credit  be  given 
the  evaporation  off  the  Gulf  for  its  share  in  produc- 
ing the  rainfall  in  the  valley ;  but  that  it  could  alone 
supply  that  rainfall  is  a  question  open  to  several 
objections.  One  of  these  is  absolutely  insuperable — 
that  is  its  inadequacy  to  produce  sufficient  moisture 
for  the  purpose.  To  illustrate  :  The  area  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  is  estimated  at  1,244,000  square  miles, 
and  the  area  of  the  Gulf  as  one  fourth  as  much.  The 
annual  average  rainfall  in  the  valley  is  forty-two 
inches  —  three  feet  and  a  half ;  to  produce  this 
amount  would  require  an  evaporation  of  fourteen  .feet 


The  Insuperable  Objection.  359 

of  water  off  the  surface  of  the  Gulf,  presuming  that 
it  was  all  thus  utilized.  It  is  obvious  that  so  great 
an  evaporation  is  impossible.  This  estimate  does 
not  include  the  large  surplusage  that  passes  from 
the  valley  over  and  through  the  Alleghany  Mount- 
ains, to  eke  out  the  deficiency  of  rain  on  their  east- 
ern slopes,  as  derived  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  be- 
cause the  influence  of  the  latter's  vapor-loaded  winds 
appears  not  to  extend  usually  farther  inland  than 
about  one  hundred  miles. 

Taking  the  flow  of  the  Mississippi  as  the  stand- 
ard, we  may  safely  estimate  that  the  amount  of 
water  annually  poured  by  rivers  into  the  Gulf  would 
raise  its  surface — if  there  were  neither  evaporation 
nor  outlet — one  foot  and  a  half.  (Appletons  Physical 
Geography,  p.  ijo.)  If  that  amount  of  water  were 
evaporated  annually,  there  would  still  be  twelve  and 
a  half  feet  to  be  accounted  for.  The  surface  of  the 
Gulf,  however,  remains  uniform  in  its  height,  and 
it  has  been  discovered  recently  that  the  portion 
of  the  Atlantic  equatorial  current,  that  comes  up 
through  the  Yucatan  Passage,  penetrates  the  Gulf 
only  about  500  miles  in  passing  onward  to  the  Straits 
of  Florida.  There  appears  no  evidence  that,  in  thus 
passing  through,  this  current  contributes  any  water 
to  that  of  the  Gulf.  The  unusual  annual  rainfall — 
about  sixty  inches — on  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf, 
and  for  one  hundred  miles  or  more  inland,  is  to  be 
accounted  for,  because,  at  the  parallel  of  30°  north, 
the  lower  strata  of  the  "  return-trades "  reach  the 


360  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

earth,  and  there  mingle  with  the  vapor-bearing  winds 
off  the  Gulf.  It  is  evident  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  flow  of  the  trade-winds  in  crossing  over  the 
Gulf  passes  by  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi.  This 
is  an  inference  from  the  fact  that  the  sea-breezes  off 
the  Gulf  penetrate  unusually  far  into  Texas  and  the 
adjoining  regions  of  Mexico.  To  furnish  the  amount 
of  water  sufficient  for  an  annual  rainfall  of  such 
depth,  and  over  a  surface  so  extensive  as  that  of  the 
Great  Valley,  would  certainly  require  an  evaporation 
off  a  surface  as  great  as  that  of  the  northern  portion 
of  the  Atlantic  equatorial  current. 

The  Course  of  the  Arctic  Winds. — It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  the  utilizing  effect  of  the  cold,  dry  north 
winds,  when  they  come  in  contact  with  the  warm 
vapor-loaded  winds  from  the  south.  In  the  region, 
north  of  the  valley  and  west  of  Hudson  Bay,  the 
direct  flow  of  the  winds  from  the  Arctic  Ocean 
toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  aided  by  two  causes : 
one,  the  Rocky  Mountains,  trending  southeast, 
which  break  the  force  of  the  west  winds  that  would 
interfere  with  the  southern  direction  of  the  former ; 
2.  The  average  slower  rate  of  the  earth's  rotary 
motion  in  that  latitude — from  46°  to  60° — which  is  not 
quite  two  fifths  of  that  at  the  equator.  The  latter 
motion  is  not  sufficiently  rapid  to  have  much  effect 
in  diverting  the  course  of  such  winds  toward  the 
west,  as  are  the  trade-winds  of  the  tropics,  and  there- 
fore in  this  high  latitude  these  winds  for  the  most 
part  flow  virtually  due  south  till  they  impinge  upon 


Arctic    Winds  moving  South.  361 

the  eastern  face  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  as  the 
angle  of  incidence  is  equal  to  the  angle  of  reflection, 
these  winds,  though  diverted  easterly,  are  still  attract- 
ed toward  the  equator  and  move  in  that  direction. 
Says  Prof.  Guyot  (Earth  and  Man,  p.  100) :  "The 
polar  winds,  seeking  the  equator,  strike  obliquely 
against  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  in  running  along 
their  eastern  slopes  are  deflected  to  the  southeast 
and  become  the  northwest  winds  of  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi."  Are  these  the  original  cold  waves  re- 
ported so  often  by  the  Signal  -  Service  Bureau  ? 
Again  :  "  These  cool  winds  meet  the  surplusage  of  the 
moist  return  trade-winds,  and  by  their  coolness  con- 
dense still  more  the  latter's  vapor  which  descends  in 
rain-storms,  that  are  sometimes  quite  violent,  but 
furnish  the  water  for  the  head-streams  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  its  branches." 

It  may  be  added  that  the  influence  of  these 
winds  extends  much  farther  south  within  the  valley, 
because,  farther  to  the  east,  for  nearly  800  miles,  they 
are  not  thus  impeded  by  the  highlands  or  mountains, 
but  pass  over  the  low  plains  of  the  Saskatchewan 
and  north  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  and,  crossing  the  latter, 
a  portion  find  their  way  unimpeded  up  the  valley  of 
the  Red  River,  and  easily  pass  over  the  compara- 
tively low  divides  into  the  valleys  of  the  Missouri 
and  the  Mississippi.  Meanwhile  another  portion, 
still  farther  east,  enters  the  upper  end  of  the  latter 
valley,  down  which  they  pass.  These  cool  winds 
coming  from  the  north  are  remarkably  dry,  but  now 


362  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

they  come  in  contact,  and  mingle  with  the  "  return- 
trades,"  that  have  been  saturated  with  moisture, 
as  we  have  seen,  from  off  the  Atlantic  equatorial 
current.  The  effect  is  that  the  vapor  of  these  re- 
turn-trades is  condensed  into  mists  and  clouds,  that 
eventually  descend  in  copious  rains. 

Comparison  of  River- Valleys.— The  basin  or  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi  —  that  is,  the  entire  region 
drained  by  that  river — is  a  most  important  factor  in 
its  bearings  upon  the  material  progress  of  the  Na- 
tion. The  fertility  of  its  soil,  its  varied  climate,  its 
sunshine  and  rainfall,  the  variety  of  its  productions, 
from  the  cereals  and  orchard-fruits  of  the  northern 
portion  to  the  cotton  and  sugar  and  semi-tropical 
fruits  of  the  southern,  all  of  untold  value  in  supply- 
ing the  wants  of  the  people,  make  this  valley  strik- 
ingly superior  to  any  other  in  the  world.  Its  great 
area  extending  north  and  south,  and  being  open  at 
both  ends,  the  flow  of  the  winds  is  not  impeded, 
while  they  greatly  modify  the  climate  and  supply 
moisture.  The  height  of  land,  or  divide,  near  the 
parallel  of  49°  north  latitude,  between  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  and  the  Arctic  Ocean,  is  only  about 
i, 600  feet  above  the  sea,  and  that  not  abrupt,  the 
approach  being  so  gradual  on  both  sides  that  the 
winds  pass  over  easily. 

The  only  valley  in  the  world  that  compares  with 
that  of  the  Mississippi,  both  in  size  and  position,  is 
that  of  the  La  Plata,  South  America.  But  what  a 
contrast  in  respect  to  climate !  The  former  is  never 


Comparison  of  Plains.  363 

affected  by  extensive  and  disastrous  droughts,  but  is 
wonderfully  uniform  in  its  rainfall,  while  the  latter 
has  what  is  termed  its  rainy  season,  when  Nature  vig- 
orously puts  forth  her  energies  and  covers  the  vast 
plains  with  rank  and  abundant  grasses,  on  which  feed 
innumerable  herds  of  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep ;  after- 
ward come  the  droughts,  in  which  this  grass  withers 
beneath  the  broiling  sun,  and  the  plains  once  so 
green  are  covered  inches  deep  with  dust.  "  These 
terrible  droughts  on  the  pampas  or  plains  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  La  Plata  cause  the  cattle  as  well  as  wild 
animals  to  perish  by  thousands  and  millions.  .  .  . 
Before  they  starve  the  wretched  creatures  consume 
not  only  the  grass,  and  every  vestige  of  vegetation, 
but  the  very  roots,  which  they  paw  out  of  the  earth 
with  their  feet."  These  droughts  are  often  suc- 
ceeded by  locusts  that  come  up  "  like  storms  in  vast 
and  dense  purple  clouds  in  the  distant  sky."  When 
wearied  by  flying  they  fall  upon  the  ground,  some- 
times "  ankle-deep,"  and  devour  what  is  left.  (Gal- 
lengasss  History  of  South  America,  pp.  283,  28^ 

Comparison  of  Plains. — There  is  an  equally  strik- 
ing contrast,  which  may  be  noted  in  this  connection, 
between  the  plains  of  the  La  Plata  and  the  high 
Western  plains  of  the  United  States.  The  grass 
upon  the  former  is  so  rank  that  its  nutritive  proper- 
ties are  thereby  much  diminished,  while  upon  the 
latter  the  short  and  compact  buffalo  and  bunch 
grasses  are  famed  for  their  remarkable  richness  in 
these  qualities.  Upon  the  former  the  grasses  wither 


364  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

and  die  under  a  broiling  sun,  but  on  the  latter,  while 
still  standing,  the  sun  cures  the  grasses  and  they 
become  hay,  but  retaining  their  original  nutritious 
properties.  On  the  Western  plains,  instead  of  burn- 
ing suns,  come  snows,  yet  the  cattle  and  buffalo  live 
and  fatten  on  this  cured  wild  hay ;  they  remove  the 
snow  with  their  hoofs,  not  to  eat  grass-roots,  but  food 
rich  in  nourishment. 

Comparison  of  Continents. — It  should  be  deemed 
a  natural  resource  of  immense  value  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States  that  their  territory  lies  between 
the  two  oceans — Atlantic  and  Pacific.  The  advan- 
tages of  this  position  consist  in  two  respects :  one  in 
relation  to  international  commerce — of  which  the 
scope  of  this  volume  does  not  permit  discussion; 
and  the  other  pertaining  to  climate  and  rainfall,  the 
latter  two  being  peculiarly  influenced  by  the  great 
equatorial  currents  of  both  these  oceans.  The  dis- 
tance from  ocean  to  ocean  across  the  United  States 
is  in  contrast  with  that  of  Europe  and  Asia  com- 
bined ;  for,  though  the  latter  are  designated  on  the 
maps  separately,  their  territories  are  united.  Ex- 
treme portions  of  Asia  are  so  far  distant  from  the 
sources  of  its  rainfall,  whose  origin  exists  in  the  va- 
pors that  rise  from  off  the  surrounding  oceans,  that 
immense  areas  in  the  interior  are  absolutely  barren 
or  desert,  inasmuch  as  the  moisture  which  at  first 
saturated  the  winds  becomes  exhausted  before  the 
latter  reach  these  sterile  districts. 

On  the  parallel  of  40°  north  latitude,  the  differ- 


Direction  of  Mountains.  365 

ence  between  the  combined  width  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  and  that  of  the  United  States,  is  about  5,000 
statute  miles,  and  on  that  of  44°  it  is  about  4,500. 
The  width  of  the  United  States  on  the  32d  parallel  is 
2,183  statute  miles;  on  the  4Oth,  2,703;  and  on  the 
42d,  2,754;  while  on  their  southern  border  for  915 
miles  is  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  which  is  open  to  the 
northern  flank  of  the  trade-winds  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  as  a  sea-breeze  these  winds  extend  unusually  far 
into  the  adjoining  territory.  On  their  northern  bor- 
der, also,  lie  the  Great  Lakes,  having  an  area  of 
nearly  100,000  square  miles,  more  than  half  of  all  the 
fresh  water  on  the  globe.  Owing  to  the  course  of 
the  winds  in  that  latitude,  the  much  greater  portion 
of  the  vapors  rising  off  the  surface  of  these  lakes 
is  carried  within  the  United  States. 

Direction  of  Mountains. — The  mountains  of  Asia, 
especially  the  Himalayas — the  highest  in  the  world 
—in  their  general  direction  lie  east  and  west,  thus 
impeding  the  natural  flow  toward  the  north  of 
the  warm  winds  saturated  with  vapor  off  the  In- 
dian Ocean,  and  which  would  modify  the  climate ; 
equally  for  the  same  reason  the  cool  winds  from  the 
north  are  cut  off:  hence  the  intense  heat  on  the 
plains  of  India.  The  same,  or  nearly  so,  may  be 
said  concerning  some  of  the  ranges  of  mountains 
that  run  east  and  west  on  the  north  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean,  as  they  deprive  to  a  limited  extent 
certain  districts  of  country  of  the  warm  winds  com- 
ing across  from  Africa,  and  which  in  their  passage 


366  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

become  saturated  with  moisture  which  they  have 
taken  off  the  surface  of  the  sea. 

The  mountain-ranges  of  the  United  States,  on  the 
contrary,  in  the  main  run  north  and  south,  thus  af- 
fording ample  facility  for  the  winds  saturated  with 
vapors  off  the  Atlantic  equatorial  current  to  find 
their  way,  as  we  have  just  seen,  in  a  northerly  direc- 
tion, over  a  vast  extent  of  territory.  Neither  does 
the  altitude  of  these  mountains  prevent  entirely  the 
passage  over  them  of  the  surplusage  of  these  vapor- 
loaded  winds. 

The  Absence  of  Deserts. — The  American  people 
will  notice  that  the  territory  of  the  United  States 
contains  no  deserts,  in  the  sense  in  which  such  im- 
mense barren  wastes  are  found  in  the  Old  World. 
There  are,  it  is  true,  certain  small  districts,  when 
compared  with  the  great  mass  of  their  domain,  that 
are  sterile  and  unproductive,  such  as  the  Staked 
Plain  of  Texas — though  it  abounds  in  fertile  valleys 
and  rich  localities  of  large  extent,  which  are  well 
watered — and  small  portions  of  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico.  The  latter  compensate  the  Nation  by  their 
mines  of  precious  metals.  Theory  assumes  that  the 
return-trades  pass  to  the  east  of  these  comparatively 
dry  districts  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  while  the 
high  mountains  on  the  west  prevent  the  vapor-loaded 
winds  from  off  the  Pacific  reaching  the  dry  and  ster- 
ile portions  of  Nevada  and  Utah.  There  are  also 
two  sterile  districts  in  Southern  California ;  they  lie 
on  both  sides  of  the  San  Bernardino  Mountains, 


The  Great  American  Desert.  367 

which  trend  northwest-southeast ;  the  one  on  the 
northeast  side  is  called  the  Mojave  Desert,  and  the 
one  on  the  southwest  the  Sandy  or  Colorado,  as  it 
extends  from  the  river  of  that  name.  These  districts 
combined  are  estimated  at  more  than  10,000  square 
miles. 

The  Great  American  Desert. — At  one  time  on 
the  maps  of  the  Union  could  be  seen  a  wide  and 
long  stretch  of  territory,  extending  north  and  south, 
and  lying  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  their 
slope  toward  the  Mississippi,  which  was  designated 
the  "  Great  American  Desert."  Strictly  speaking, 
there  is  no  desert  land  within  the  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. In  more  recent  times  a  United  States  army 
officer,  a  graduate  at  West  Point,  and  afterward 
one  of  the  highest  standing  in  the  army,  had  been 
stationed  years  before  at  Fort  Riley,  which  was 
located  near  where  now  stands  the  flourishing  town 
of  Abilene,  Kansas.  This  officer,  in  an  open  letter 
that  was  published  in  the  newspapers  at  the  time, 
denounced  the  directors  of  the  "  Kansas  branch  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railway  "  as  swindlers,  because 
they  offered  lands  for  sale  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Riley.  He  warned  settlers  not  to  purchase  farms  in 
that  region,  as  the  soil  was  so  sterile  as  to  be  virtually 
a  desert,  and  that  their  families  would  starve  if  they 
depended  upon  their  own  crops  for  sustenance.  In 
less  than  a  dozen  years  after  the  issuance  of  this 
manifesto  a  correspondent  of  the  "  New  York  Trib- 
une," writing  from  Abilene,  stated  that  he  had  seen 


368  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

from  the  cupola  of  the  railway  depot,  extending  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  acres  of  luxuriant  wheat,  in  gathering  which  were 
engaged  hundreds  of  reaping-machines. 

The  Andes  and  the  Rockies. — While  the  Andes 
have  not  a  break,  and  loom  up  bluff  quite  close  along- 
side the  Pacific,  from  Panama  to  Patagonia,  the 
Rockies  on  the  fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude  are 
nearly  1,000  miles  east  of  that  ocean,  while  the  inter- 
vening space  is  interspersed  with  mountains,  as  the 
Sierra  Nevada  and  the  highlands  of  the  Coast  Range, 
and  also  with  fertile  valleys,  through  which  flow 
streams  the  outcome  of  never-failing  springs.  The 
compact  barrier  of  the  Andes  is  in  width  about  sixty 
miles,  while  the  breadth  of  the  Rockies  is  nearly 
four  hundred  ;  the  latter  are  not  in  a  continuous,  un- 
broken range,  but  they  He  rather  in  blocks,  between 
which  are  passes  or  depressions,  that  admit  the  pas- 
sage of  the  winds  freighted  with  warmth  and  moist- 
ure from  off  the  Pacific,  and  also  pave  the  way  for 
railroads,  thus  rendering  the  east  and  west  portions 
of  the  United  States  accessible  to  each  other.  Nei- 
ther the  Rockies  nor  the  Alleghanies  are  so  high  as 
to  prevent  entirely  the  winds  thus  saturated  with 
vapors  passing  over  them,  as  do  the  Andes. 


XXXV. 

CLIMATE   OF  THE   NORTHWEST. 

Origin  of  the  Japan  Current. — The  interest  in 
this  climate  is  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  its  mildness 
and  moisture  are  derived  from  off  the  Pacific,  as  those 
of  the  eastern  and  middle  portion  of  the  Union  are 
from  off  the  Atlantic.  The  two  appear  to  meet  and 
blend  between  the  meridians  106°  and  108°  west. 
There  comes  up  from  that  inexhaustible  reservoir, 
already  mentioned,  the  Antarctic  Ocean,  a  great 
flow  of  water  named  from  its  discoverer  the  Hum- 
boldt  Current.  It  is  driven  by  the  centrifugal  force 
induced  by  the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth,  and 
dividing  near  Cape  Horn  one  portion  moves  toward 
the  equator  along  the  west  side  of  South  America, 
thus  corresponding  with  the  other,  which  constitutes 
the  current  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa  already 
noticed  as  the  origin  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  As  the 
former  approaches  the  wider  part  of  the  continent 
and  the  equator,  it  becomes  deflected  toward  the 
northwest ;  that  portion  is  known  as  the  Peruvian 
Current.  This  mass  of  waters  at  length  turning 

west  constitutes  on  the  line  of   the  earth's  swiftest 
25 


370  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

motion  two  flows  direct  across  the  Pacific — the  south 
and  the  north  equatorial  currents,  there  being  no  land 
to  obstruct  or  deflect  their  course  as  in  the  case  of 
that  of  the  Atlantic.  The  latter  is  the  origin  of  the  Kio 
Suo  or  Japan  Current,  for,  while  a  portion  passes  on 
through  the  East  Indies,  a  much  larger  one,  turning 
northeast,  at  or  near  the  Philippine  Isles,  begins  its 
return  course  by  flowing  along  the  east  coast  of 
Asia.  These  waters  flow  on  both  sides  of  the  Japan 
Isles,  but  by  far  the  greater  portion  on  the  eastern, 
and  being  originally  for  a  longer  time  and  for  a 
greater  distance  under  the  broiling  sun  of  the  trop- 
ics, they  become  warmer  than  those  constituting  the 
Gulf  Stream.  A  United  States  survey  found  the 
highest  temperature  of  this  current  to  range  from 
84°  to  86°  Fahr.  (Lieutenant  Brent,  Perry  s  Japan  Ex- 
pedition^) The  volume  of  water  is  estimated  to  be 
three  times  greater  than  that  of  the  Gulf  Stream — 
that  is,  equal  to  3,000  Mississippis  at  full  flow — and 
its  temperature  being  higher,  the  evaporation  from 
its  surface  must  be  so  much  more  in  proportion  ;  but 
it  also  has  a  much  greater  surface  to  spread  over  and 
warm,  since  the  North  Pacific  between  the  parallels  of 
36°  and  40°  on  an  average  is  about  5,000  statute  miles 
wide,  while  that  of  the  North  Atlantic  between  the 
same  lines  is  not  quite  one  third  as  much.  In  addi- 
tion, the  warm  temperature  derived  from  the  Gulf 
Stream,  when  its  waters  spread  over  the  North  At- 
lantic, is  much  modified  by  the  cooling  effect  of  the 
numerous  icebergs  that  float  down  from  the  Arctic 


The  Beneficial  Effects.  371 

Ocean,  while,  on  the  contrary,  there  are  none  in  the 
North  Pacific.  Behring  Straits  are  so  narrow — be- 
ing only  about  fifty  miles — that  icebergs  can  not  pass, 
the  waters  being  comparatively  shallow,  while  the 
polar  currents  to  transport  them  are  wanting  in 
force,  when  ranked  with  the  power  of  those  that  flow 
south  into  the  North  Atlantic.  From  these  facts 
we  may  estimate  how  much  greater  is  the  amount  of 
moisture  and  warmth  carried  by  the  winds  from  off 
the  Pacific  than  that  borne  off  the  Atlantic.  Says 
Captain  Maury  :  "  The  quantity  of  heat  discharged 
over  the  Atlantic  from  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream 
in  a  winter's  day  would  be  sufficient  to  raise  the 
whole  column  of  atmosphere  that  rests  upon  France 
and  the  British  Isles  from  the  freezing-point  to  sum- 
mer's heat."  (Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea,  p.  54.) 
The  Beneficial  Effects. — The  Japan  Current  with 
its  immense  volume  of  waters,  saturated  with  a 
wealth  of  warmth  and  vapor,  sweeps  northward  till 
it  comes  in  contact  with  that  great  breakwater,  the 
Aleutian  Isles,  extending  in  a  southwest  direction  for 
nine  hundred  miles.  This  obstruction  deflects  its 
course  toward  the  northeast  and  east ;  meanwhile 
its  advancing  waters  are  also  expanding  over  the 
Northern  Pacific,  and  moving  along  the  southern 
shores  of  Alaska,  and  round  by  British  Columbia 
and  Washington  Territory  to  a  point  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  where  it  turns  toward 
the  southeast,  and  passing  at  some  distance  from  the 
coast,  until  it  reaches  the  latitude  of  the  peninsula  of 


372  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Southern  California,  where  its  waters  return  into  the 
original  current  going  west,  to  be  again  warmed  un- 
der a  tropical  sun,  and  again  utilized  to  render  the 
world  a  similar  service  ;  and  thus  they  go  on  for- 
ever. 

The  Coast  Climate. — The  temperature  of  the 
North  American  coast  that  borders  on  the  Pacific 
is  remarkably  mild,  owing  to  the  influence  exerted 
by  the  Japan  Current.  At  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  south 
of  Vancouver's  Island — 48°  30'  north  latitude — there 
is  scarcely  any  ice,  and  flowers  that  it  is  necessary  to 
house  in  the  Middle  States,  during  the  winter,  bloom 
here  in  the  open  air  the  year  through.  The  climate 
is  still  more  striking  for  its  mildness  farther  up  the 
coast,  as  at  Sitka — 57°  north — in  Alaska,  the  aver- 
age temperature  of  the  year  is  very  nearly  the  same 
as  that  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  39°  north,  and  also  at 
Puget  Sound — 48°  north — Washington  Territory,  the 
winters  are  almost  as  mild  as  those  at  Norfolk,  Vir- 
ginia, 37°  north ;  and  the  same  influence  extends 
south  along  the  coast  beyond  San  Francisco. 

The  Region  benefited.— The  area  in  Northwest- 
ern America  that  is  warmed  and  furnished  with 
moisture  from  off  the  North  Pacific  is  much  greater 
than  that  of  Northwestern  Europe  similarly  affected 
from  off  the  North  Atlantic.  The  westerly  winds 
off  the  former,  having  been  saturated  with  warmth 
and  vapor,  penetrate  the  interior  from  the  42d  to 
the  49th  degree  north  latitude,  for  eight  or  nine  hun- 
dred miles ;  even  finding  their  way  through  the  gaps 


Climate  North  of  the  49 th  Degree.     373 

in  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  to  their  eastern  slopes, 
where  the  vapor  manifests  itself  by  becoming  visible 
in  mists  and  clouds  that  descend  in  rains  that  cherish 
the  native  wild  fruits  and  grasses,  and,  where  the  soil 
is  brought  under  cultivation,  rewards  the  labor  of  the 
husbandman.  The  same  may  be  said  of  British  Co- 
lumbia. From  the  42d  degree  northward  the  Rocky 
Mountains  decline  in  height,  while  their  structure  ap- 
pears to  be  more  broken  into  blocks,  between  which 
are  numerous  depressions  or  gaps  that  furnish  an 
easy  passage  for  these  westerly  winds.  The  latter 
follow  the  valley  of  the  Columbia  River  in  a  north- 
erly direction  through  the  Cascades,  and  up  beyond 
its  head-streams  near  the  53d  parallel  in  the  British 
possessions,  and  only  a  short  distance  south  of  where 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  passes  through  the 
Rocky  Mountains  from  the  plains  in  the  valley  of 
the  Saskatchewan.  The  influence  of  these  warm 
winds,  passing  through  and  over  the  mountains, 
affects  the  climate  north  of  the  British  boundary  of 
49°,  and  so  much  that  the  temperature  of  the  whole 
region,  up  to  the  55th  degree  and  east  of  the  mount- 
ains, is  greatly  modified,  especially  during  the  sum- 
mer months.  Though  the  winters  are  intensely  cold, 
Nature  seems  to  be  in  some  way  invigorated  by  her 
long  rest,  and  the  summer  being  so  very  warm,  and 
the  sun  lingering  so  long,  she  is  induced  to  put 
forth  all  her  energies  to  produce  and  mature  the 
wheat,  the  barley,  the  oats,  and  the  grass.  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson, in  his  Arctic  expedition,  states  that  "  wheat 


374  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

is  raised  with  profit  at  Fort  Liard,  60°  north,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mackenzie  River,  at  an  elevation  of  400 
feet  above  the  sea.  This  locality,  however,  being  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  subject  to 
summer  frosts,  and  the  grain  does  not  ripen  per- 
fectly every  year,  though  in  favorable  seasons  it 
gives  a  good  return."  (Climatology,  p.  4.4.9.)  The 
great  benefit  accruing  from  this  region  to  the  por- 
tion  of  the  Union  bordering  on  the  49th  boundary 
west  of  Lake  Superior  is  that  the  cold  that  would 
sweep  down  from  the  Arctic  Ocean  is  met  and 
moderated  by  this  barrier  of  warm  temperature. 
When  this  current  of  warm  air,  thus  saturated  with 
vapor,  in  moving  up  the  Columbia,  reaches  the 
mouth  of  the  Shoshone  or  Snake  River,  a  portion 
also  passes  up  that  stream,  mainly  in  a  southeasterly 
direction.  Though  this  air  is  clear  during  the  day, 
at  night  its  vapor  is  condensed  by  the  cooler  temper- 
ature, and  becomes  visible  in  a  fine  mist,  while  the 
effect  on  vegetation  is  that  of  a  very  heavy  dew, 
almost  a  shower,  and  the  moisture  penetrates  the 
soil  to  such  an  extent  that  it  needs  no  more  rains 
after  those  of  the  spring  are  over.  (Smalley,  p.  j£j.) 
Comparisons  of  Temperature. — On  the  South  Sas- 
katchewan River,  51°  north,  the  average  summer  tem- 
perature is  the  same  as  that  of  New  Haven,  Connect- 
icut 10°  farther  south.  This  mildness  extends  in  a 
modified  form  still  farther  north,  as  we  have  just 
seen,  and  as  also  evidenced  in  the  fact  that  buffalo 
winter  in  the  woodlands  along  the  rivers  that  are 


Comparison  of  Temperature.  375 

tributary  to  Lake  Athabasca,  in  a  region  lying  be- 
tween the  parallels  of  53d  and  58th  degrees  north, 
and  obtain  food  from  the  native  grasses  of  the  previ- 
ous summer.  These  grasses  are  sometimes  covered 
with  snow,  which  the  animals  remove  with  their 
hoofs.  "  Grassy  plains  like  these  necessarily  imply 
an  adequate  supply  of  rain,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  correspondence  with  European  plains  in  like 
geographical  position — those  of  Eastern  Germany 
and  Russia — is  quite  complete  in  this  respect.  If  a 
difference  exists,  it  is  in  favor  of  the  American  plains, 
which  have  a  greater  proportion  of  surface-waters, 
both  as  lakes  and  rivers."  (Climatology,  p.  531.) 

At  Fort  Benton,  on  the  upper  Missouri,  in  Mon- 
tana, 48°  north  latitude  and  m°  west  longitude,  and 
at  an  altitude  of  2,600  feet  above  the  ocean,  the  aver- 
age summer  temperature,  as  ascertained  during  a 
number  of  years,  was  72°  Fahr.,  and  the  average  for 
the  year  48°  ;  in  New  York  Harbor  (Fort  Columbus) 
the  average  summer  heat  is  the  same,  while  for  the 
year  it  is  only  three  degrees  warmer,  though  seven 
degrees  farther  south.  This  is  the  more  remarkable, 
when  we  take  into  consideration  the  much  greater 
altitude  of  Fort  Benton  and  indeed  of  that  whole  re- 
gion, and  that  also  the  cooling  effect  of  such  eleva- 
tion is  overcome  only  by  the  heat  which  the  Pacific 
winds  thus  distribute.  In  the  valley  of  the  Red 
River  of  the  North,  where  the  altitude  is  not  so  great 
as  at  Fort  Benton,  at  Pembina,  Minnesota,  on  the 
forty-ninth  parallel,  the  average  temperature  of  the 


376  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

summer  is  71°,  one  degree  higher  than  at  Harris- 
burg,  Pennsylvania,  nine  degrees  farther  south.  The 
higher  temperature  at  Fort  Benton  may  be  ac- 
counted for,  because  it  is  649  miles  nearer  the  Pa- 
cific than  Pembina.  Another  peculiar  feature  of  that 
region  is  the  sudden  and  rapid  opening  of  spring, 
which  usually  extends  a  distance  of  1,500  miles,  from 
St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  northwesterly  to  the  plains  of 
the  Saskatchewan  in  the  British  possessions,  within 
ten  or  fifteen  days.  This  marvelously  rapid  change 
from  the  cold  of  winter  is  the  earnest  of  the  contin- 
uous warmth  of  summer,  with  its  variable  winds  and 
rains. 

The  Interior  Climate. — Between  the  fortieth  and 
the  forty-ninth  parallels  of  north  latitude,  and  within, 
and  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  average  summer  temperature,  as  as- 
certained by  observations  at  seventeen  places  located 
in  widely  separated  positions,  is  nearly  73°  Fahr., 
while  the  average  rainfall  for  the  summer  months, 
and  over  the  same  territory,  is  fourteen  inches,  as  ob- 
tained from  statistics  at  ten  stations  equally  separated. 
(Smithsonian  Contributions,  Vols.  XXI  and  XVIII?)  As 
already  noted,  the  Rocky  Mountains  decline  in  height 
from  the  forty-second  parallel  northward.  In  proof 
of  this  may  be  cited  the  fact  that  the  Northern  Pa- 
cific Railway  passes  through  them  on  a  line  lower 
by  some  3,300  feet  than  does  the  Central  Pacific, 
so  that  it  has  been  characterized  as  "the  valley 
route  across  the  continent."  In  the  main  it  runs 


Observations  at  Seventeen  Places.        377 

through  the  central  portion  of  the  region  just  men- 
tioned ;  though  it  is  less  incommoded  with  snows 
than  the  Central  Pacific,  yet  its  route  for  the  most 
part  is  four  degrees  of  parallel — or  276  statute  miles — 
farther  north.  The  mildness  of  the  climate  in  this 
region  gradually  increases  toward  the  Pacific,  from 
a  short  distance  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  is  quite 
as  uniform  as  the  rainfall.  Says  Mr.  E.  V.  Smalley : 
"  In  many  portions  of  Dakota,  Montana,  and  North- 
ern Idaho,  herds  of  cattle  roam,  and  horses  range 
out  all  winter,  and  keep  in  excellent  condition  on  the 
nutritious  grasses  of  the  plains  and  valleys."  (Hist. 
Northern  Pacific  Railway,  p. 


XXXVI. 

THE   MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY  AND   OTHER   PLAINS. 

THE  much  greater  portion  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  can  be  made  available  for  the  use  of 
man,  either  as  pasturage  for  herds  of  animals  or  for 
cultivation.  In  their  native  state,  the  plains,  the  val- 
leys, and  the  hill-sides  are  for  the  most  part  fertile  and 
susceptible  of  still  further  productiveness  by  the  in- 
dustry of  man ;  and  in  addition,  when  the  entire  area 
of  the  Union  is  taken  into  consideration,  the  amount 
of  rain  is  found  to  be  abundant  and  uniform,  while 
the  temperature  in  its  influence  in  maturing  crops  is 
equally  efficient.  Even  the  mountains  amply  com- 
pensate the  Nation  for  the  room  they  occupy,  by  fur- 
nishing minerals  and  moderating  the  climate. 

The  Value  of  the  Valley. — In  noticing  more 
fully  the  Mississippi  Valley  we  offer  no  apology, 
since  it  is  a  natural  resource  in  its  value  to  the 
American  people  pre-eminently  beyond  any  other 
one  of  their  possessions.  Its  vast  area — more  than 
half  the  entire  Union,  excluding  Alaska — its  position 
in  the  center  of  the  Nation,  and  its  accessibility  to  the 
other  portions  of  the  Union,  so  that  wherever  needed 


The  Rapid  Settlement.  379 

its  products  can  be  easily  transported,  unite  in  en- 
hancing its  national  importance.  It  has  the  three 
conditions  essential  to  make  a  country  productive  of 
grain,  grasses,  and  fruits — a  soil  of  itself  fertile,  rain- 
fall and  sunshine,  and  withal  a  temperature  suf- 
ficiently warm  to  produce  luxuriant  and  well-ripened 
crops.  Being  open  at  both  ends,  there  is  free  ingress 
for  the  warm,  moisture-loaded  winds  from  the  south 
to  meet  the  drier  and  cooler  ones  from  the  north, 
by  which  the  vapors  of  the  former  are  condensed, 
so  that  the  clouds  thus  produced  may  pour  down 
blessings  in  copious  rains.  Nor  do  these  blessings 
end  here.  The  surface  of  the  valley  being  in  the 
greater  portion  moderately  level  or  undulating,  with 
here  and  there  greater  elevations,  these  rain-waters 
run  off  slowly,  meanwhile  penetrating  the  earth,  to 
be  stored  therein,  not  only  to  nourish  the  crops,  but 
to  afford  an  abundance  of  pure  water  for  man  and 
beast.  Everywhere,  especially  in  the  hilly  portions, 
are  never-failing  springs  and  crystal  brooks,  while 
on  the  plains  or  level  districts  pure  and  sparkling 
water  can  be  obtained  in  abundance  by  sinking 
wells. 

The  Rapid  Settlement. — The  unprecedented  ra- 
pidity with  which  the  central  portion  of  this  valley 
was  settled,  especially  the  prairie  region  lying  with- 
in the  peninsula  between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
Rivers,  deserves  notice.  Rumor  had  told  of  that 
goodly  meadow-land  of  grass  and  wild  flowers, 
where  the  farmer,  instead  of  laboring  to  clear  off  the 


380  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

trees  and  underbrush  before  he  could  bring  the  land 
under  cultivation,  had  only  to  plow  the  prairie,  put 
in  his  seed,  and  reap  a  crop  in  a  few  months.  What 
an  enhanced  value  accrued  to  this  resource  of  land 
in  its  being  at  once  available  !  Here  was  a  remark- 
able opportunity  for  enterprise,  and  for  which  the 
people  were  then  prepared.  During  the  first  quar- 
ter of  this  century  commenced  a  migration  from  the 
older  States  of  multitudes  of  young,  energetic,  and 
stalwart  farmers,  that  almost  swarmed  over  these 
plains,  dotting  them  with  farm-houses,  while  with 
comparatively  easy  labor  they  overturned  the  soil 
and  consecrated  the  prairies  to  husbandry.  Owing 
to  the  facilities  of  cultivating  the  land,  these  pioneers 
soon  reached  the  Mississippi,  and  passed  over  to  sub- 
due the  plains  beyond. 

Rainfall  and  Temperature. — Within  this  valley 
is  now,  according  to  the  census  of  1880,  the  center 
of  the  population  of  the  Union— about  eight  miles 
southwest  of  Cincinnati — and  in  it  may  soon  be  the 
center  of  influence  in  the  government  of  the  Nation, 
as  it  certainly  will  continue  to  be  its  granary.  (Hist, 
of  the  American  People,  p.  1092.)  As  a  basis  for  the 
latter  statement,  the  soil,  so  remarkably  fertile  by 
Nature,  can  be  made  for  all  time  more  and  more 
productive  by  the  skill  and  industry  of  man;  should 
the  conditions  of  Nature  remain  the  same  as  they 
are  to-day,  the  promise  of  seed-time  and  harvest  will 
never  fail  in  the  Great  Valley.  The  average  annual 
rainfall  within  the  valley  is  forty -two  inches ;  that  is 


Ratio  of  the  Rainfall.  381 

to  say  that  if  this  water  did  not  penetrate  the  earth 
nor  run  off,  it  would  be  at  the  end  of  the  year  three 
and  a  half  feet  deep.  This  knowledge  has  been  as- 
certained by  observations  taken  at  forty-three  widely 
separated  stations  within  its  borders,  ranging  north 
and  south  from  30°  to  45°,  a  distance  of  more  than 
one  thousand  miles,  and  from  distant  points  east  and 
west.  (Smithsonian  Contributions,  etc.,  Vol.  XVIII.) 
The  ratio  of  the  rainfall  during  the  summer  months, 
when  it  is  specially  needed,  is  greater  than  during 
any  other  season,  averaging  four  inches  each  month, 
thus  furnishing  moisture  to  promote  the  growth  of 
cereal  crops  and  grasses,  native  and  cultivated. 
Then,  again,  the  necessary  sunshine  and  heat  are  pro- 
vided to  mature  and  fully  ripen  these  crops;  the 
high  temperature  thus  utilizing  this  large  rainfall. 
As  ascertained  from  observations  taken  at  thirty- 
four  stations  covering  the  same  parallels  of  latitude 
and  at  equal  distance  east  and  west,  the  average  tem- 
perature of  the  valley  is  found  to  be  75°  Fahr.  dur- 
ing the  three  summer  months,  and  the  average  tem- 
perature of  the  entire  year  51°.  (Tables  of  Tempera- 
ture— Climatology!) 

The  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Slopes'  Rainfall.— The 
annual  rainfall  on  the  Atlantic  slope  averages  forty- 
three  inches  not  far  from  the  coast,  and  that  of  the 
summer  months  is  nearly  thirteen.  Yet  near  Cape 
Hatteras  it  is  seventy-eight  inches,  because  of  the 
blending  at  that  point  of  a  cold  northeast  current 
with  the  warm  water  of  the  Gulf  Stream. 


382  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States  we  find 
a  difference  in  one  respect :  in  that  region  the  most 
profuse  rains  are  in  the  winter  and  spring,  by  which 
means  the  soil  is  prepared  to  afford  moisture  to  the 
growing  crops,  and  also  sufficient  to  sustain  them 
during  the  months  when  they  are  ripening  under 
an  almost  cloudless  sky.  As  shown  by  observations 
taken  at  ten  different  stations,  the  average  ratio  of 
rainfall  for  the  winter  alone  was  eighteen  inches,  or 
four  and  a  half  for  each  month,  while  for  the  entire 
year  it  was  only  thirty-six  inches — six  inches  less 
than  that  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  (Smith- 
sonian Contributions,  Vol.  XVIII.} 

Average  Rainfall  in  Europe  compared. — The 
feature  of  the  winds  saturated  with  vapors  pene- 
trating into  the  interior,  in  the  Northwest,  and  also 
in  the  valley,  so  far  away  from  their  source,  is  very 
striking  when  compared  with  the  short  distance 
they  are  borne  into  the  interior  of  Europe.  At  St. 
Petersburg  the  annual  amount  of  rainfall  is  not  quite 
eighteen  inches,  while  its  distance  from  the  ocean  is 
only  525  statute  miles;  and  in  the  Crimea,  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  Black  Sea,  it  is  only  fifteen  inches ;  and 
at  Orel,  484  miles  north  of  that  sea,  it  is  twenty-five 
inches.  At  Berlin,  Prussia,  the  rainfall  is  twenty- 
four  inches,  and  in  Paris  twenty-three.  In  the  British 
Isles,  at  Liverpool  it  is  thirty-four  inches  ;  Aberdeen, 
Scotland,  twenty-nine ;  north  of  Ireland,  thirty-six ; 
and,  though  the  fogs  of  London  are  proverbial,  the 
annual  amount  of  rainfall  in  that  city  is  only  twenty- 


Rainfall  at  Fort  Riley.  383 

one  inches.  The  average  rainfall  in  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  varies  more 
than  on  the  Continent ;  it  sometimes  attains  thirty- 
five  inches.  A  more  comprehensive  statement  gives 
the  annual  average  rainfall  of  Europe  at  twenty-four 
inches,  as  ascertained  by  observations  made  in  seven- 
teen cities  that  are  widely  separated.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  in  this  connection  that  twenty-four  inches 
is  the  annual  rainfall  at  Fort  Riley,  near  Abilene, 
Kansas,  and  also  that  here  the  average  summer  tem- 
perature is  77°  Fahr.  This  town  is  on  or  near  the 
39th  degree  of  north  latitude,  at  its  intersection  with 
the  97th  meridian  west,  and  here — excluding  Alaska 
—is  the  territorial  center  of  the  United  States 
(Hist,  of  the  American  People,  p.  1092) — the  latter 
position  being  1,404  statute  miles  from  the  Atlantic 
and  the  same  from  the  Pacific ;  while  on  the  south, 
from  the  west  end  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  it  is  770, 
and  on  the  north  about  the  same  from  the  British 
possessions. 

The  Center  of  Territory. — The  reader  will  no- 
tice the  great  distance  of  this  center  of  territory 
from  both  oceans,  and  also  that  the  average  annual 
rainfall  at  that  point  is  equal  to  the  similar  average  of 
all  Europe.  This  result  shows  that  the  winds  that 
blow  north  over  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  are 
more  deeply  saturated  with  vapor  off  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  current  than  are  the  winds  that  float  east  over 
Europe  from  off  the  northern  portion  of  the  Gulf 
Stream ;  the  waters  of  the  latter  being  so  much 


384  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

cooler,  the  evaporation  is  correspondingly  less.  We 
may  note  in  this  connection  that  the  average  annual 
rainfall  of  the  United  States — excluding  Alaska — is 
twenty-nine  inches,  as  we  have  seen  that  of  Europe 
is  twenty-four.  (Appletons'  Physical  Geography, p.  /J/.) 

The  Soil  of  the  High  Plains. — We  have  already 
noticed  the  immensity  and  the  various  kinds  of  min- 
eral wealth  that  are  stored  in  the  earth  within  the 
territory  of  the  United  States,  and  yet  the  benefits 
which  the  people  derive  from  the  soil  of  their 
country  far  transcends  in  value  the  treasures  found 
beneath  its  surface.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  fertility 
of  the  soil  of  the  Union  is  the  most  remarkable  on 
the  globe,  and  its  productions  are  correspondingly 
great.  Within  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  as 
already  noticed,  are  no  great  deserts  in  the  sense  of 
purely  barren  wastes,  though  there  are  two  or  three 
sterile  districts  which  are  comparatively  small ;  but 
none  of  these  compare  in  size  or  partake  of  the 
dismal,  sterile  features  of  the  deserts  of  Africa  and 
Central  Asia.  Instead,  they  are  mere  specks  of  bar- 
renness, when  compared  with  the  entire  mass  of  the 
fertile,  arable,  and  pasture  lands  of  the  Union. 

Mistakes  of  Explorers  and  Others. — Early  ex- 
plorers, tourists,  and  even  army  officers,  were  mis- 
taken, especially  in  their  estimate  of  the  productive 
qualities  or  fertility  of  the  portions  of  the  elevated 
plains  which  were  near  and  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  The  sage-brush  plains  were  pronounced 
barren  and  worthless,  and  the  entire  region  was  des- 


"Bad-Lands?  385 

ignated  on  the  map  as  the  Great  American  Desert ; 
but  now  the  same  space  on  the  map  contains  the 
names  of  prosperous  villages,  in  the  vicinity  of  which 
are  fruitful  and  cultivated  farms. 

More  recently  the  "  bad-lands "  of  Dakota  were 
described  as  utterly  worthless ;  but  time  has  shown 
that  "  they  are  full  of  rich  plateaus,  and  afford  the 
best  of  shelter  for  stock.  They  were  the  favorite 
haunts  for  wild  game,  and  are  now  (1886)  occupied 
by  numerous  and  consecutive  herds  of  cattle,  that 
have  been  driven  to  them  during  the  past  five  years. 
They  have  proved  to  be  anything  but  '  bad '  to  the 
stock-growers  of  the  plains.  Buffalo  and  bunch 
grass  cover  almost  every  inch  of  the  ground."  (Da- 
kota Handbook,  p.  23.)  "  The  fertile  prairies  and  val- 
leys of  Western  Dakota  terminate  near  the  western 
boundary  of  the  Territory,  in  that  singular  and  pict- 
uresque region  known  as  the  '  bad-lands '  of  the  early 
maps.  This  region  resembles  no  other  district  of 
country  in  the  world.  Yet  everywhere  in  its  val- 
leys, save  on  the  faces  of  the  steeper  buttes — a  coni- 
cal hill  that  rises  out  of  the  plain,  or  rather,  in  the 
course  of  many  centuries,  the  surrounding  earth  was 
washed  away  from  them — the  grass  grows  luxuri- 
antly, covering  even  the  high  plateaus  five  hundred 
feet  above  the  valleys,  and  here  herds  and  flocks  find 
pasture  the  year  round."  (E.  V.  Smalley,  Hist.,  etc., 
PP-  33^  339-)  "  The  autumn  is  the  most  agreeable 
season ;  in  summer  it  is  as  hot  as  in  southern  lati- 
tudes ;  the  winter  begins  in  November  and  lasts 
26 


386  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

until  April,  and  most  winter  days  are  clear,  bright, 
and  still." 

In  Salt  Lake  Basin,  stock  generally  winters  with- 
out prepared  fodder,  but  thrives  on  the  range  the 
year  round.  "  The  seed  of  the  bunch-grass  has  re- 
markable fattening  properties.  It  grows  in  bunches 
in  apparently  the  most  barren  places ;  early  in  the 
season  it  cures,  and  still  standing  retains  all  its  nu- 
triment, and,  being  hard  to  cover  with  snow,  it  is 
within  the  reach  of  stock."  (Resources  of  Utah, 
p.  19.) 

"Although  Arizona  has  been  represented  as  a 
barren,  sandy  waste,  it  can  show  as  fine  a  growth  of 
rich  and  succulent  native  grasses  as  any  section  of 
the  Southwest,  and  its  capabilities  as  a  stock-growing 
region  are  almost  limitless.  The  cattle  fed  on  this 
grass  keep  fat  winter  and  summer,  and  their  beef  is 
unequaled  in  flavor.  The  fattening  qualities  of  these 
grasses  are  almost  beyond  belief."  (Resources  of  Ari- 
zona, pp.  6j,  258.)  This  Territory  has  60,000  square 
miles  of  pasturage  on  native  grasses.  New  Mexico 
has  grazing-lands  in  great  extent,  the  grasses  being 
the  same  in  kind  and  qualities  as  those  of  Arizona; 
with  these  her  plains  and  mountain-slopes  are  cov- 
ered. This  grass  does  not  flourish  on  damp  or  clay 
soil,  and  hence  it  is  not  found  in  the  river-bottoms  or 
valleys,  but  thrives  best  amid  sand  and  gravel,  and 
in  perfection  on  dry  sandy  plains  and  rocky  hill- 
slopes.  No  kind  of  stock  in  New  Mexico  is  ever 
required  to  be  winter-fed  or  sheltered.  These  im- 


The  Discovery.  387 

mense  pasture-lands  extend  into  Texas  and  Kansas, 
Indian  Territory,  and  Western  Arkansas. 

The  Native  Grass  Resource. — The  purely  natu- 
ral resources  of  the  native  grasses  on  these  high 
plains  and  mountain-slopes  have  only  within  recent 
years  been  appreciated.  They  never  fail,  as  they  are 
fitted  by  Nature  to  the  conditions  under  which  they 
exist;  they  need  not  the  care  of  man,  but  flourish 
where  the  ordinary  cultivated  grasses  would  wither 
and  die.  They  are  specially  adapted  to  the  nourish- 
ing and  raising  of  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep, 
and  this  will  continue  as  long  as  the  present  laws  of 
Nature  prevail  in  that  vast  region.  Throughout 
this  immense  pasture-range,  on  high  plains  and  hills, 
are  also  often  found  valleys  and  lower  lands  with 
rich  alluvial  soil,  but  almost  unproductive  because 
of  the  lack  of  rain  or  moisture.  These  districts  the 
farmers  easily  convert  into  fruitful  fields  and  gardens 
by  means  of  irrigation.  (See  Section  XXXVII.) 

The  Discovery. — It  was  known  that,  during  the 
winter,  the  buffalo  and  the  deer  fed  on  cured  grass 
or  wild  hay ;  but  could  domestic  cattle  be  thus  car- 
ried through  that  season?  This  problem  was  acci- 
dentally solved  in  the  winter  of  1864  and  1865.  A 
teamster  was  hauling  supplies  with  oxen  to  a  United 
States  fort  in  Utah,  when  he  was  overtaken  by  an 
early  snow-storm  on  the  Laramie  Plains.  He  was 
compelled  to  halt  for  the  winter ;  when  his  feed  was 
exhausted  he  turned  his  oxen  out,  as  he  supposed,  to 
die  of  starvation.  The  latter  did  not  stray  far  away, 


388  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

but  lingered  in  the  vicinity  of  the  camp,  and  when 
spring  opened  they  were  found  to  be  in  a  much  bet- 
ter condition  than  when  they  were  turned  loose. 
The  winds  had  here  and  there  laid  bare  the  cured 
buffalo-grass,  and  upon  this  the  oxen  had  fed  for 
nearly  four  months.  The  important  discovery  that 
cattle  could  winter  well  on  wild  hay  paved  the  way 
for  establishing  cattle-ranges  throughout  that  region 
and  farther  south.  This  has  since  grown  into  an  im- 
mense business,  and,  in  cheapening  one  important 
class  of  food,  has  conferred  great  benefits,  not  only 
upon  our  own  people,  but  upon  those  of  Europe, 
who  have  become  participants  in  the  advantages  de- 
rived from  these  cattle-ranges. 


XXXVII. 

IRRIGATION. 

THIS  mode  of  nourishing  crops  has  been  in  use 
from  the  earliest  antiquity — on  the  plains  of  Assyria, 
in  China,  in  Egypt,  in  Italy,  while  Pizarro  found  in 
Peru  a  perfect  system  of  irrigation.  It  is  only  with- 
in comparatively  recent  years  that  the  process  has 
been  found  necessary  within  the  domain  of  the 
Union. 

The  United  States  are  remarkably  blessed  with 
water — Nature's  great  fertilizer — in  their  copious 
rainfall,  not  only  on  the  Atlantic  slope  and  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  but  in  the  greater  portion 
of  the  territory  west  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  to  the 
Pacific.  There  is,  however,  a  region  in  the  Union, 
whose  length  is  about  800  miles,  with  a  width  rang- 
ing from  100  to  150,  within  which  are  large  isolated 
areas  where  the  rainfall  is  not  sufficient  to  nourish 
properly  the  growing  grains  and  vegetables.  This 
comparatively  dry  region  extends  from  the  middle 
of  Idaho  and  Wyoming,  across  Utah,  Colorado,  New 
Mexico,  Arizona,  and  southwest,  through  Nevada, 
into  Southern  California.  Through  the  middle  por- 


390  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

tion  of  this  region  run  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  at 
quite  a  distance  from  their  eastern  base  the  western 
flank  of  the  rainfall  that  supplies  the  Mississippi 
Valley  becomes  partially  exhausted.  On  the  other 
hand  the  vapors  that  rise  from  off  the  Pacific,  and 
are  carried  east  by  the  winds,  in  passing  over  the 
Sierra  and  Cascade  Mountains  become  partially 
chilled,  and  deposit  on  them  much  of  their  vapor  in 
masses  of  snow  or  moisture,  while  the  remainder 
passing  on  descends  in  snow  amid  the  Rockies ;  in 
consequence,  the  rainfall  in  the  valleys  of  the  Great 
Basin  is  much  diminished.  The  native  grasses,  how- 
ever, not  requiring  nearly  so  much  moisture  for  their 
sustenance,  live  and  flourish  on  the  side-hills  and  on 
the  upper  plains,  throughout  this  entire  region,  and 
thus  furnish  abundant  pasturage  for  stock. 

The  Deficiency  supplied. — Throughout  this  areav 
thus  lacking  sufficient  rain  to  perfect  the  growth  ot 
domestic  vegetation,  the  farmers  resort  to  irrigation 
to  supply  the  deficiency ;  to  accomplish  which  they 
avail  themselves  of  the  inexhaustible  stores  of  snow 
upon  the  mountains,  which  in  due  season  melts  under 
the  rays  of  the  summer  sun,  and  the  water  trickles 
down  in  streamlets,  which  are  often  picked  up  one 
by  one,  and  concentrated  in  canals,  and  thus  carried 
where  the  life-giving  water  can  be  used1  in  nourish- 
ing the  roots  of  plants  and  of  grain.  It  is  a  remark- 
able provision,  in  the  natural  economy  of  the  United 
States,  that  the  fertile  valleys  and  their  adjoining 
slopes  within  this  area,  which,  for  agricultural  pur- 


The  Canals.  391 

poses,  are  almost  valueless,  because  of  the  want  of 
water,  have  within  reach  a  supply  of  the  latter  that 
is  absolutely  inexhaustible.  To  the  farmer  living  in 
regions  where  abundant  rains  prevail,  the  labor  of 
irrigating  his  fields  would  no  doubt  appear  toilsome ; 
but  the  latter  mode  has  its  compensations,  for  he  who 
irrigates  is  not  left  to  the  mercy  of  droughts  nor  of 
chance  rains,  nor  is  he  delayed  by  untimely  wet  days 
during  the  growing  season,  nor  by  storms  when  he 
is  harvesting  his  crops. 

The  Canals. — The  mode  of  bringing  the  water 
from  these  mountain  reservoirs  has  become  more 
and  more  systematized,  from  the  private  canal  of 
the  individual  farmer  of  only  a  few  hundred  yards  in 
length,  to  that  of  the  stock  companies,  ranging  in 
length  from  a  few  miles  to  sixty  or  eighty.  These 
companies,  utilizing  mountain-streams,  build  canals 
and  furnish  water  to  the  farmers  at  a  fair  rate,  and  in 
return  receive  fair  dividends  from  their  investments. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  farmer  pays  for  the  water  he 
uses,  but  is  himself  amply  compensated  for  his  out- 
lay in  the  enhanced  produce  of  his  fields.  He  easily 
learns  how  to  use  it  to  the  best  advantage,  such  labor 
being  almost  nothing ;  while  the  soil  of  that  region 
is  very  easily  permeated  by  the  water,  and  the  re- 
sult is  abundant  crops.  This  mode  of  supplying  the 
necessary  water  for  raising  crops  prevails  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  throughout  that  entire  section  of  coun- 
try, and  "  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres,  that  were 
barren  wastes  a  few  years  ago,  have  been  brought 


392  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

into  a  high  state  of  cultivation  by  means  of  irriga- 
tion." 

The  Effects  produced. — Singular  effects  some- 
times occur  from  irrigating  certain  soils,  as,  for  in- 
stance, in  Colorado :  a  farm  may  be  taken  up  amid 
the  sage-brush,  and,  when  cultivated  by  means  of  irri- 
gation, the  water  decomposes  the  alkali  of  the  soil, 
and  converts  it  into  a  fertilizer.  Almost  everywhere 
in  that  section  can  be  seen  the  productive  field  side 
by  side  with  the  original  sage-brush.  Irrigated 
lands,  as  a  general  rule,  when  properly  cultivated,  do 
not  become  poor  and  sterile,  but  continue  to  pro- 
duce fine  crops  of  wheat,  oats,  barley,  potatoes,  and 
garden  vegetables.  The  slope  lying  directly  along 
the  eastern  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  desig- 
nated on  the  earlier  maps  as  the  "  Great  American 
Desert" — a  barren  waste,  but  now  known  to  be  sus- 
ceptible of  cultivation,  and  under  certain  conditions 
producing  remunerative  crops. 

In  Colorado,  large  canals  have  been  constructed, 
one  of  which  is  eighty-two  miles  long,  and  has  ca- 
pacity for  bringing  water  sufficient  to  irrigate  65,000 
acres.  Says  Governor  Elbert,  in  an  address  :  "  Crops 
with  a  regular  supply  of  water,  from  the  first  impulse 
of  spring  until  they  ripen  for  the  harvest,  are  devel- 
oped to  their  fullest  capabilities,  and  in  the  greatest 
perfection."  This  statement  has  been  verified  from 
year  to  year  by  the  average  yield  of  crops  in  the 
portions  of  Colorado  where  agriculture  is  exclu- 
sively carried  on  by  irrigation.  The  modes  and  fa- 


Good  Effect  on  Grain.  393 

cilities  for  making  the  system  perfect  are  increasing 
from  time  to  time,  and  this  valuable  resource  of 
melted  snows  is  more  and  more  appreciated. 

In  Wyoming,  irrigation  has  been  extensively  in- 
troduced, there  being  nearly  ninety  stock  companies 
engaged  in  supplying  water  for  that  purpose  to  the 
farmers  on  the  plains  in  the  southern  portion  of  the 
Territory.  These  companies,  in  addition  to  utilizing 
the  mountain-streams,  great  and  small,  have  often 
recourse  to  artesian  wells.  The  individual  capital 
ranges  from  the  lowest  on  record,  $300,  up  to  the 
largest,  $1,000,000  in  two  instances.  The  main  canal 
belonging  to  one  of  the  latter,  including  its  branches, 
is  200  miles  long.  From  the  report  of  the  Governor 
(1885,  p.  77),  we  learn  that  the  development  of  the 
agricultural  industry  of  the  Territory  has  been  very 
great.  The  grain  produced  by  this  method  is  better, 
weighs  more  to  the  bushel,  than  that  obtained  by  the 
ordinary  process,  as  the  soil — a  fine,  sandy  loam — is 
well  adapted  to  become  fruitful  by  irrigation.  The 
same  mode  of  farming,  and  to  a  large  extent,  prevails 
also  in  Idaho,  and  in  both  instances  has  been  emi- 
nently successful,  though  the  system  is  only  in  its 
infancy. 

Southern  California  is  not  so  happy  in  obtaining 
water  for  irrigating  purposes  from  streams  derived 
from  the  melting  snows  in  the  mountains,  as  snow  is 
quite  limited  in  that  latitude,  but  it  depends  upon 
other  natural  streams,  springs,  and  artesian  wells. 
The  latter  are  rapidly  increasing  in  number,  there 


394  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

being  about  600  in  Los  Angeles  County  alone. 
These  furnish  an  immense  amount  of  water,  which  is 
usually  pumped  by  means  of  windmills.  Crops  of 
every  kind — fruits  and  grain — are  very  large  in  that 
portion  of  the  State. 

In  Nevada,  irrigation  is  greatly  needed  to  make  a 
large  proportion  of  its  soil  productive,  and  the  time 
seems  not  far  distant  when  State  legislation  will 
adopt  measures  by  which  the  system  can  be  univer- 
sally introduced,  so  as  to  benefit  equally  all  classes 
of  citizens.  (Land  Register  s  Report,  1885,  p.  6.) 

Suggestions. — This  subject  has  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  National  Government,  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior  says  in  his  report,  December  6, 
1886:  "  It  is  urged  that  a  system  of  irrigation,  which 
is  necessary  to  render  inhabitable  immense  areas  of 
fertile  lands  in  the  Territories,  is  impossible  to  small 
holders.  The  sinking  of  artesian  wells,  the  construc- 
tion of  extensive  reservoirs  and  irrigating  canals 
many  miles  in  length,  must  be  done  by  accumulated 
capital,  and  that  therefore,  in  the  development  of  the 
Territories,  large  masses  of  land  must  be  brought  in 
this  respect  under  a  single  management."  The  Sec- 
retary suggests  that  "  Government  itself  should  un- 
dertake preliminary  scientific  surveys  and  investi- 
gations," and,  perhaps,  conduct  a  system  of  public 
works  to  promote  irrigation,  and  thus  aid  in  estab- 
lishing within  the  Territories  a  numerous  and  wealth- 
producing  population. 


XXXVIII. 

THE  FOOD  AREA — WHEAT-BELT. 

WHEAT — that  princess  of  cereals — is  cultivated 
over  a  greater  extent  of  territory  in  the  United 
States  than  any  other  grain,  except  one — Indian 
corn.  The  area  producing  it  is  more  than  half  that 
of  the  Union ;  it  extends  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  across  the  middle  portion  of  the  continent  in 
one  continuous  belt,  having  a  width  of  several  hun- 
dred miles,  and,  in  addition  beyond  these  east  and 
west  lines,  it  reaches  far  toward  the  south  along  the 
highlands  taking  in  the  foot-hills  and  slopes  on  both 
sides  of  the  Alleghanies ;  then,  sweeping  round  to- 
ward the  southwest,  flourishes  on  the  elevated  re- 
gion constituting  the  divide  between  the  water- 
shed of  the  Gulf  and  that  of  the  valley  of  the  Ohio ; 
thence,  skipping  over  the  lowlands  bordering  the 
lower  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  it  resumes 
its  sway  in  the  elevated  region  of  the  Ozark  Mount- 
ains, and  south  along  their  line  into  Northern  Texas, 
and  still  moving  westward  to  the  Pacific  slope, 
where  in  every  part  it  finds  a  congenial  home— 
from  Southern  California  across  Oregon,  Washing- 


396  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

ton  Territory,  and  far  into  British  Columbia.  Na- 
ture has  furnished  such  a  soil  and  climate  in  some 
portions  of  California  that  two  crops  a  year — wheat 
or  barley,  and  Indian  corn — can  be  produced  from 
the  same  ground  by  means  of  judicious  irrigation. 

The  Northern  Wheat-Belt.— The  main  wheat- 
belt  includes  New  England  and  Central  New  York, 
though  its  cultivation  in  these  sections  has  been  par- 
tially suspended,  because  of  the  much  greater  facili- 
ties afforded  in  the  West  and  Northwest,  by  the  more 
fertile  soil  and  open  plains ;  the  latter  being  suscepti- 
ble of  easier  cultivation,  and  also  of  producing  larger 
crops  and  at  less  expense.  Directly  west  of  New 
York  comes  in  a  portion  of  Canada,  that  fine  wheat- 
growing  region,  the  peninsula  between  Lakes  Onta- 
rio and  Huron  ;  but  west  of  the  Mississippi  the  wheat 
area  extends  still  farther  north,  along  the  valley  of 
the  Red  River  till  it  reaches  Lake  Winnipeg,  and 
thence  expands  over  the  plains  through  which  flows 
the  Saskatchewan,  in  north  latitude  ranging  from  50° 
to  53°. 

Wheat's  Adaptability.— Wheat  has  the  power  of 
adapting  itself  to  the  conditions  of  elevated  regions, 
and  likewise  it  appears  to  flourish  better  and  pro- 
duce with  more  vigor  in  those  sections  where  the 
climate  has  almost  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold. 
The  intense  winter  cold  of  this  entire  region  just 
mentioned  has  its  compensations,  as  the  earth  often 
contracts  because  of  the  cold,  and  portions  thus  sepa- 
rating produce  cracks  or  open  spaces  two  or  three 


The  Effect  of  Sunlight.  397 

inches  wide  and  extending  in  depth  several  feet. 
These  openings  on  the  melting  of  the  snow  become 
filled  with  water,  and,  as  the  frost  leaves  the  ground, 
the  soil  crumbles  and  shuts  it  in  these  little  chasms. 
The  latter  become  within  the  earth  innumerable 
though  small  reservoirs,  whose  waters  in  the  warm 
and  dry  season  nourish  the  roots  of  the  grains  and 
grasses.  Owing  to  this  provision  of  Nature,  often 
excellent  crops  of  wheat  have  been  raised  in  the 
valley  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  without  any 
rain  to  wet  the  ground  after  the  wheat  had  been 
sown  in  the  early  spring. 

The  Effect  of  Sunlight— It  is  remarkable  that 
the  wheat  of  what  we  usually  term  the  "  Northwest  " 
is  more  than  ordinarily  perfect;  the  kernel  is  said 
to  be  harder  and  more  compact  than  that  grown  far- 
ther south,  and  that  this  applies,  with  equal  if  not 
greater  force,  to  the  wheat  produced  on  the  plains 
in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Winnipeg.  Prof.  Schubeler, 
of  Christiania,  Norway,  after  studying  and  experi- 
menting on  the  subject,  has  shown  conclusively  that 
long  and  continuous  sunlight  has  a  marked  effect  on 
vegetation  in  perfecting  the  peculiar  quality,  what- 
ever that  may  be,  of  the  grain  or  plant.  This  result 
may  be  produced  by  the  actinism  or  some  other  ele- 
ment contained  in  the  sun's  rays,  and  which  have  the 
same  influence  everywhere,  and  apparently  independ- 
ent of  heat,  though  the  latter  promotes  the  general 
growth  of  vegetation.  In  accordance  with  Prof. 
Schubeler's  experiments,  the  actinism  of  the  sun's 


398  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

rays  appears  as  effective  in  its  action  in  the  north  as 
it  does  in  the  south.  May  not  this  be  the  secret  of 
the  very  excellent  wheat-kernel  produced  in  this 
northern  region?  Here  is  a  problem  for  further 
scientific  investigation. 

The  Long  Continuance  of  Sunlight. — An  addi- 
tional reason  may  be  given  to  account  for  this  bene- 
ficial effect  produced  on  the  wheat,  while  growing 
in  this  northern  region — namely,  the  longer  continu- 
ance of  the  sun's  rays.  For  illustration,  taking  the 
average  rate  of  the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth  on  its 
surface  within  the  belt  included  between  seven  de- 
grees of  north  latitude — the  forty-sixth  and  fifty-sec- 
ond inclusive — the  rate  is  found  to  be  only  three  fifths 
of  the  surface  rate  at  the  equator.  From  these  condi- 
tions it  follows  that,  for  instance,  on  the  2ist  of  June, 
when  the  length  of  the  day  from  sunrise  to  sunset  is 
fifteen  hours,  the  sun  shines  on  an  area — of  any  as- 
sumed size,  say  a  square  statute  mile — at  the  equator 
for  six  hours,  but  on  an  equal  area  within  this  belt,  just 
mentioned,  it  shines  nine  hours,  owing  to  the  slower 
motion  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  in  consequence 
the  efficiency  of  the  actinism  of  the  sun's  rays  with- 
in this  belt  is  increased  one  half  more.  It  is  found 
consistently  with  the  above  that — dispensing  with 
small  fractions — the  circumference  of  the  earth  and 
the  length  of  a  degree  on  the  forty-ninth  parallel  are 
only  three  fifths  respectively  of  that  on  the  equator. 

Wheat  in  the  Great  Valley. — By  far  our  greatest 
and  most  connected  wheat-producing  area  is  the  val- 


Large  or  Small  Farms.  399 

ley  of  the  Mississippi ;  this  includes  the  valleys  of  all 
its  tributaries  with  the  adjacent  side-hills  and  pla- 
teaus. Within  this  area  wheat  flourishes,  except  in 
the  lowlands  in  the  extreme  southern  portion.  This 
granary  of  the  Union,  and  to  a  certain  extent  store- 
house of  Europe,  deserves  a  passing  notice. 
Throughout  its  length  and  breadth  there  is  in  the 
main  a  depth  of  alluvial  soil  whose  fertility  to  those 
who  have  never  seen  it  seems  almost  incredible.  In 
the  bottoms  along  the  river  itself,  and  in  those  bor- 
dering on  its  tributaries,  the  soil  is  deep,  often  rang- 
ing from  two  to  ten  feet,  and  in  extreme  cases  even 
twenty  or  more.  The  hillsides  within  the  valley, 
nearly  all  of  which  have  a  limestone  soil,  produce 
abundant  crops.  The  wealth  of  this  natural  resource 
can  not  be  strictly  estimated  at  a  mere  money  value  ; 
its  province  is  to  furnish  sustenance  and  other  blessings 
for  the  people  of  to-day,  and  to  promote,  indefinitely, 
the  well-being  of  coming  generations.  Meanwhile, 
its  intrinsic  value  will,  no  doubt,  continue  to  be  en- 
hanced by  means  of  the  intelligent  industry  and 
skill  of  the  future  agriculturist.  This  area  is  so  ex- 
tensive, the  climate  so  diversified,  the  sunshine  and 
rainfall  so  assured,  that  though  droughts  may  some- 
times occur  in  different  sections,  yet,  humanly  speak- 
ing, there  never  will  be  a  deficiency  of  crops  so 
great  as  to  cause  a  famine  throughout  the  land. 

Large  or  Small  Farms. — It  is  apprehended,  in 
theory  at  least,  that  the  soil  of  the  numerous  very 
large  wheat-farms  in  the  Northwest,  which  to-day 


4oo  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

are  so  extensively  cultivated,  must  in  the  end  become 
exhausted  from  the  lack  of  proper  care.  This  the- 
ory assumes  that  farming  on  so  large  a  scale  will  not 
replenish  the  soil  with  the  plant-food  taken  from  it 
by  the  crops,  and  in  consequence  in  time  these  lands 
will  become  unfruitful.  Such  very  large  farms  are, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  exceptional,  and  they 
will  not  remain  so  for  a  great  number  of  years,  but 
will,  in  accordance  with  American  ideas,  be  broken 
up  and  pass  into  the  possession  of  small  landholders. 
The  latter  will  be  more  likely  to  cultivate  them  care- 
fully, so  that  the  soil  will  hold  its  own,  and  indeed 
become  more  fertile  from  year  to  year ;  meanwhile 
the  aggregate  of  the  crops  will  be  larger  than  when 
under  the  management  of  a  single  owner  ;  in  addition, 
the  land  will  be  occupied  by  a  much  larger  popula- 
tion, and  confer  benefits  upon  a  greater  number  of 
people. 

The  Maize  or  Indian-Corn  Area. — Maize  is  the 
only  one  of  our  cereals  that  is  indigenous  to  the 
United  States.  When  the  colonists  obtained  it  from 
the  Indians,  they  called  it  corn,  the  English  term  to 
express  simply  grain  of  whatever  kind  ;  afterward,  to 
make  the  designation  more  definite,  the  Americans, 
instead  of  retaining  the  Indian  name  maize,  prefixed 
to  corn  the  word  Indian. 

The  maize  area  is  even  larger  than  that  of  the 
wheat,  since  it  is  not  only  continuous  with  the  lat- 
ter, but  extends  farther  south  away  beyond  its  lim- 
its, and  luxuriantly  flourishes  side  by  side  with  the 


Extent  of  Crops  compared.  401 

cotton,  the  rice,  and  the  sugar-cane.  In  the  cooler 
northern  portions  of  the  Union  it  does  not  grow  so 
freely  nor  produce  so  abundantly,  as  in  the  warmer 
middle  and  southern.  This  area,  commencing  in 
Eastern  Maine,  and  passing  west,  includes  New 
England  and  Central  New  York,  and  also  extends 
along  the  curve  of  the  Atlantic  slope,  running  far 
back  from  the  coast  and  taking  in  the  foot-hills  of  the 
Alleghanies  as  well  as  the  lowlands  nearer  the  ocean, 
until  it  reaches  Southern  Florida ;  thence  westward, 
including  the  southern  end  and  slopes  of  the  same 
mountains,  it  covers  the  region  north  of  the  Gulf  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  beyond  that  river,  over  the 
plains  of  Texas  and  across  New  Mexico  and  Arizona 
to  the  Pacific  slope,  up  which  it  passes  from  South- 
ern California  to  British  Columbia.  But  the  favor- 
ite home  of  the  Indian  corn  is  the  area  drained  by 
the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries — stretching  from 
the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Alleghanies  ;  here  are 
the  fertile  bottom-lands  and  the  rich  hillsides  in  which 
it  delights,  and  the  copious  rainfall  and  the  warm 
sunshine  that  make  it  rejoice. 

Extent  of  Crops  compared. — A  brief  comparison 
may  give  a  partial  view  of  the  immense  value  of  this 
crop — our  great  indigenous  grain,  which  next  to  rice 
supplies  food  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  largest 
number  of  the  human  race.  In  1880  the  corn-crop 
was  1,754,861,535  bushels.  This  was  more  than  two 
and  a  half  times  the  next  greatest  crop — the  wheat— 

the  corn  having  816,163,773  bushels  to  spare.     It  had 
27 


402  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

767,647,119  bushels  more  than  all  our  other  crops  of 
grain  combined — the  wheat,  the  rye,  the  barley,  the 
oats,  and  the  buckwheat.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
this  ratio  of  production,  or  nearly  so,  will  ever  con- 
tinue. The  fattening  properties  of  this  grain  are 
very  great,  and  as  such  it  is  used  for  domestic  ani- 
mals, especially  swine  ;  in  relation  to  the  latter,  in 
their  being  prepared  for  food  as  pork,  corn  is  util- 
ized to  an  enormous  extent  in  the  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. In  the  form  of  pork  and  beef,  which  are  pre- 
pared in  several  ways,  corn  thus  indirectly  reaches 
the  people  of  the  whole  country,  while  it  is  sent  abroad 
in  immense  quantities.  In  addition,  we  have  no  grain 
that  is  so  susceptible  of  being  prepared  in  various 
ways  for  human  food,  nor  one  that  is  more  nutritious 
and  palatable. 

Indian  corn  is  far  more  used  directly  as  human 
food  in  the  South  than  in  the  North,  yet  it  supplies 
an  immense  amount  to  the  latter  in  two  forms  :  the 
one  directly  as  bread,  and  the  other  indirectly  as  in 
beef  and  pork,  which  the  corn  mostly  fattens.  The 
colored  people  have  a  knack  of  preparing  this  nu- 
tritious grain  in  a  manner  that  renders  it  exceedingly 
palatable,  and  thus  it  supplies  nearly  all  their  bread, 
while  it  enters  so  largely  into  pork,  almost  their  only 
meat. 

Oats,  Buckwheat,  Barley,  Rye.— The  area  that 
produces  oats  is  very  extensive,  as  they  are  cultivated 
in  every  State  and  Territory.  The  buckwheat  area  is 
quite  limited,  and  its  product  is  much  lower  than  any 


Rice-Culture  and  Area.  403 

other  grain  ;  in  some  States  it  is  not  cultivated  at  all. 
Barley  is  raised  in  all  the  States  and  Territories,  ex- 
cept Louisiana.  Rye  loves  the  middle  and  north-mid- 
dle belt  of  the  country.  The  amount  produced  in 
bushels  of  these  grains  in  1880,  according  to  the  cen- 
sus, is  in  the  following  order,  corn  being  the  first : 
Indian  corn,  wheat,  oats,  barley,  rye,  and  buckwheat. 
Rice-Culture  and  Area. — In  1698  the  captain  of 
a  ship  that  put  into  Charleston  harbor,  in  distress, 
presented  to  Archdale,  the  Governor  of  the  Colony 
of  South  Carolina,  a  bag  of  rice,  which  he  had 
brought  from  the  Island  of  Madagascar.  This  rice 
was  distributed  as  seed  among  the  planters,  in  order 
to  ascertain  if  the  conditions  of  the  soil  and  climate 
would  promote  its  cultivation.  The  venture  was 
successful ;  the  grain  produced  was  exceptionally 
perfect,  and  in  consequence  the  industry  advanced 
rapidly,  and  ere  long  "  Carolina  rice  was  celebrated 
far  and  wide  as  the  best  in  the  world."  That  reputa- 
tion it  has  kept  ever  since,  and  "  Carolina  rice  heads 
the  list  in  the  quotations  of  that  article  in  all  the 
markets  of  the  world."  (Handbook  of  South  Carolina, 
p.  12.)  The  rice-producing  area,  with  occasional 
breaks  intervening,  extends  from  near  the  Virginia 
line  along  the  South  Atlantic,  and  round  on  the  north 
shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  into  Texas.  It  runs  in 
places  quite  back  into  the  upper  country,  as  well  as 
occupies  the  districts  on  the  mainland  that  can  be 
flowed  with  water,  and  the  adjacent  islands  that  are 
suitable  for  its  culture.  There  are  two  methods  in 


404  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

cultivating  rice — the  dry  and  the  wet.  The  former 
is  pursued  in  uplands  and  on  grounds  not  suscep- 
tible of  irrigation  ;  the  dry  culture  yields  from  fifteen 
to  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre,  the  wet  from  forty  to 
eighty.  Of  the  States,  portions  of  which  are  in- 
cluded in  this  area,  those  that  are  prominent  in  the 
cultivation  of  rice  are  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Louisiana,  and  North  Carolina,  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  named. 

Sugar-producing  Area. — Our  native  sugar,  for 
the  most  part,  is  derived  from  three  sources :  the 
sugar-maple  trees  of  the  more  northern  portion  of 
the  Union,  and  the  cultivated  sugar-cane  of  the 
southern,  and  from  the  sugar-beet.  The  cane,  being 
of  tropical  origin,  can  be  raised  quite  successfully  in 
the  region  bordering  on  the  tropics,  or  the  sub-trop- 
ical. It  is  extensively  cultivated  in  Louisiana,  where 
it  flourishes  in  the  rich  alluvial  soil,  but  some  authori- 
ties on  the  subject  assert  that  it  grows  more  vigor- 
ously in  the  south-middle  portion  of  Florida  than 
in  the  former  State,  and  in  proof  of  which  they  ad- 
duce the  fact  that  in  Florida  it  matures  sufficiently 
to  come  out  in  tassel.  In  the  latter  State  appears  a 
wide  field  for  its  cultivation,  but  which  as  yet  is  only 
sparingly  developed.  Georgia,  also,  puts  in  a  claim 
for  her  tier  of  counties  bordering  on  Florida  as  being 
a  valuable  sugar-cane  area,  and  Alabama  for  her  ter- 
ritory near  the  Gulf. 

In  addition,  sugar  is  also  obtained  from  a  certain 
kind  of  beet,  which  is  produced  in  large  quantities  in 


The  Sugar-Beet.  405 

California,  and  the  indications  are  that  it  can  be  cul- 
tivated to  advantage  in  almost  every  portion  of  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Nearly  the  same  may  be 
predicated  of  sorghum,  which  has  been  introduced 
from  China.  This  plant  can  be  grown  in  the  middle 
portion  of  the  Union,  but  to  what  extent  it  will  be 
utilized  in  the  production  of  sirup  or  sugar  remains 
a  problem.  We  only  know  at  present  that  the  area 
over  which  it  can  be  successfully  cultivated  is 
quite  extensive. 


XXXIX. 

FIBERS — MISCELLANIES. 

Cotton  Area. — This  area  extends  over  the  entire 
southern  portion  of  the  United  States,  and  is  cele- 
brated not  only  for  its  large  production  of  cotton  to 
the  acre,  but  for  the  excellence  of  the  fiber ;  these 
two  elements  combined  give  that  staple  of  the  Union 
almost  the  monopoly  of  the  commercial  world.  The 
value  of  this  crop,  because  of  its  ready  sale  in  Eu- 
rope, has  been  estimated  beyond  its  intrinsic  worth, 
as  it  is  in  that  respect  the  fourth  in  order  ;  the  Indi- 
an corn,  the  wheat,  and  the  hay  being  each  of  more 
value  to  the  people  at  large.  To  define  more  strict- 
ly this  immense  area  of  more  than  100,000  square 
miles,  we  may  state  that  it  takes  in  the  South  Atlan- 
tic slope  from  the  coast  to  the  foot-hills  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  at  a  similar  distance  from  their  southern 
end  includes  the  territory  between  them  and  the 
north  shore  of  the  Gulf,  and  also  a  portion  of  Ten- 
nessee west  to  the  Great  River,  crossing  which  it 
pervades  a  large  portion  of  Texas,  and  also  claims  a 
part  of  Arkansas,  and  some  districts  in  Arizona.  Of 
this  extensive  area  only  a  comparatively  limited  por- 


The  Grades  of  Cotton.  407 

tion  is  annually  planted  in  cotton  ;  the  remainder  is 
in  trust  for  the  future. 

The  Grades  of  Cotton. — There  are  two  classes  of 
cotton  produced  in  the  Union — the  upland  and  the 
sea-island ;  the  short  and  the  long  staple.  The  up- 
land is  far  in  advance  of  the  sea-island  in  respect  to 
quantity,  but  the  latter  is  far  superior  in  relation  to 
fineness  of  quality,  yet  both  grades  are  essential  in 
order  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  Ameri- 
can people.  The  sea-island  or  long-staple  cotton  is 
famous  the  civilized  world  over  for  the  silky  fineness 
of  its  fiber.  From  it  is  made  the  finest  thread  for 
sewing,  and  the  muslins  of  Switzerland  and  France, 
so  celebrated  for  their  delicacy  of  texture. 

Along  the  South  Atlantic,  sea-island  or  long- 
staple  cotton  is  produced  near  the  coast  and  on  the 
adjacent  islands  within  portions  of  three  States — 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida.  That  area 
or  region  is  capable  of  producing  this  fine  and  silky 
cotton  to  an  almost  unlimited  degree. 

Other  Fibers ;  Hemp,  Jute,  Flax,  etc. — The  area 
producing  hemp  is  quite  extensive,  though  it  is  prin- 
cipally cultivated  in  portions  of  the  States  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Missouri,  the  latter  rivaling  the  former. 
It  requires  a  rich  soil,  and  in  Missouri  the  term 
"  hemp-land  "  is  deemed  a  compliment  to  the  fertility 
of  the  land  thus  designated.  (Missouri  Handbook,  p. 
76.)  Hemp  can  be  raised  to  advantage  in  several 
other  States  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  when 
there  is  for  it  sufficient  demand.  Jute,  a  coarse  kind 


408  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

of  hemp,  has  been  introduced  from  India  into  the 
South,  especially  in  Florida  and  Louisiana ;  in  each 
State  it  appears  to  find  a  congenial  climate  and  soil. 
Plants  that  produce  fiber  appear  to  flourish  in  the 
southern  portions  of  these  States.  Ramie  was  intro- 
duced from  Southern  Asia,  and  its  cultivation  has 
been  successful  as  far  north  as  New  Jersey.  From  it 
is  made  the  noted  "  grass-cloth "  of  the  East ;  the 
fiber  has  a  gloss  similar  to  silk,  and  it  is  stronger 
than  hemp.  The  Sisal  hemp  is  indigenous  to  Flor- 
ida, and  several  other  varieties  of  that  plant  can  be 
cultivated  to  advantage.  The  leaves  of  the  palmetto 
are  also  very  fibrous,  but  of  a  coarse  texture,  so  that 
when  prepared  they  are  used  in  making  brushes, 
brooms,  and  the  unbroken  leaves  also  make  good 
roofing.  When  young  and  tender  the  palmetto-fiber 
furnishes  materials  for  bonnets,  hats,  etc.,  as  well  as 
for  the  upholsterer,  the  cordage-maker,  and  pulp  for 
fine  grades  of  paper. 

The  y&z-r-producing  area  extends  across  the  north- 
middle  portion  of  the  Union  ;  it  rejoices  in  a  mod- 
erately temperate  climate  and  fresh  soil.  In  the 
eastern  part  of  this  area  its  culture  has  been  much 
diminished  within  recent  years,  the  labor  in  prepar- 
ing the  fiber  for  the  loom  being  so  great  that  cotton 
to  a  very  large  extent  has  superseded  its  use.  In  the 
Northern  States  and  Territories  west  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior flax  is  cultivated  almost  entirely  for  the  seed, 
which  is  extensively  used  in  obtaining  a  valuable  oil, 
known  as  linseed,  and  used  in  painting  and  for  other 


The   Tobacco  Area.  409 

purposes.  Efforts  are  in  progress,  especially  in  Min- 
nesota, to  utilize  the  fiber  by  means  of  machinery. 
(Illustrated  Minnesota,  p.  23.) 

The  northern  part  of  the  Pacific  slope  has  a  cli- 
mate and  soil  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  production 
of  flax.  This  may  be  safely  predicated  of  the  west- 
ern portion  of  Washington  Territory  and  Oregon, 
within  the  region  between  the  Coast  Range  and  the 
Cascades.  For  illustration  :  the  climate  of  the  valley 
of  the  Willamette— the  "  garden  of  Oregon  "—is  simi- 
lar to  that  of  Ireland,  as  there  only  rain  and  mist 
prevail,  and  snow  is  scarcely  known,  while  the  tem- 
perature is  equally  mild.  In  this  valley  and  vicinity 
flax  grows  luxuriantly,  and  perfects  its  fiber  to  such 
a  degree  that  enthusiastic  patriots  predict  that,  in 
time,  this  valley  will  have  linen-factories  which  will 
rival  those  of  Richardson,  on  the  banks  of  the  Liffey. 
In  this  region  the  "  shamrock  "  grows  spontaneously. 
(Oregon  as  it  Is,  p.  61.) 

The  Tobacco  Area. — Tobacco,  being  indigenous 
to  the  country,  its  area  virtually  covers  the  whole  of 
the  arable  lands  of  the  Union,  except  in  the  more 
northern  portions,  though  its  favorite  habitat  is  in  the 
south-middle  region.  It  is  a  sensitive  plant  in  re- 
spect to  the  elements  in  the  soil  that  afford  it  food, 
though  it  appears  to  flourish,  without  exception,  in 
fresh  ground  or  that  recently  occupied  by  native 
trees  or  underbrush  ;  it  is  also  susceptible  to  the  nu- 
triment derived  from  suitable  fertilizers.  Owing  to 
this  fastidiousness  in  selecting  plant-food,  its  cultiva- 


41  o  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

tion  is  limited  to  districts  in  the  area  where  that 
special  class  of  food  abounds  in  the  soil ;  these  dis- 
tricts, however,  are  often  widely  separated.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  peculiar  trait,  the  texture  of  the  to- 
bacco-leaf and  its  flavor  are  found  to  depend  very 
much  upon  the  character  of  the  soil  in  which  it  is 
grown. 

Potato  Area. — The  area  of  the  sweet-potato  cov- 
ers the  south-middle  and  southern  portion  of  the 
United  States,  where  it  is  indigenous,  as  it  was  found 
in  that  region  by  the  early  English  colonists,  and 
where  it  flourishes  in  different  varieties  and  produces 
in  great  profusion.  The  white  potato  was  originally 
obtained  from  the  highlands  of  Peru,  where  it  grew 
in  a  wild  state  as  a  comparatively  small  tuber.  It  is 
known  also  as  the  Irish  potato,  because  it  is  culti- 
vated so  extensively  in  Ireland.  The  present  size 
and  good  qualities  of  this  valuable  esculent,  and  its 
numerous  varieties,  are  the  outgrowth  of  its  careful 
cultivation  during  two  centuries.  Its  main  area, 
though  it  somewhat  overlaps  that  of  the  sweet-potato, 
is  in  the  middle  and  northern  portion  of  the  Union 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

The  Peanut— We  must  not  overlook  the  humble 
peanut,  which  also  grows  in  the  ground,  and  used  to 
be  called  the  ground-nut.  It  is  a  native  of  Africa,  and 
was  brought  to  this  country  somewhere  about  1850. 
This  vegetable  is  grown  in  the  light,  sandy  soils  of 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee,  and  is  mak- 
ing its  way  gradually  toward  the  West,  and  appears 


The  Peanut. — Hop-C^llture.  411 

to  have  become  thoroughly  acclimated.  Its  produc- 
tion is  increasing  from  year  to  year,  to  meet  the  cor- 
responding demand,  while  the  fruit  itself  is  an  im- 
provement on  the  original  African  nut.  This  latter 
phase  renders  the  crop  still  more  valuable.  The 
vine  and  leaves  of  this  plant  somewhat  resemble 
clover ;  they  are  cultivated  like  sweet-potatoes,  and 
when  ripe  the  vines  are  pulled  up,  to  the  roots  of 
which  the  nuts  adhere  very  tenaciously,  and  require 
to  be  removed  by  the  hand. 

Hop-Production.— In  Central  New  York  is  an  ex- 
tensive district  where  the  hop  grows  luxuriantly, 
and  where  its  cultivation  is  a  prominent  agricultural 
industry.  The  conditions  of  soil  required  for  the 
successful  raising  of  this  crop  appear  to  be  within 
limited  districts  in  the  State.  The  quality  of  the  hops 
produced  is,  however,  of  the  best  grade.  A  remark- 
able instance  of  this  adaptation  of  soil  occurs  also 
in  Washington  Territory,  in  the  rich  alluvial,  sandy 
deposits  of  the  river-bottom  lands  adjacent  to  Puget 
Sound.  The  area  brought  under  cultivation  in  hops 
is  rapidly  extending,  inasmuch  as  the  climate  as  well 
as  the  soil  in  the  bottom-lands  and  valleys  of  the 
Territory  appear  to  be  peculiarly  adapted  for  rais- 
ing this  crop.  The  amount  produced  to  the  acre  is 
large — the  average  yield  being  1,500  pounds — and 
the  quality  of  the  crop  compares  favorably  with  that 
of  New  York,  while  in  the  latter  respect  it  is  im- 
proving from  year  to  year.  The  increase  in  the 
acreage  planted,  and  the  amount  produced  in  the 


412  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Territory,  has  been  very  rapid  and  extremely  vari- 
able ;  for  instance,  in  1880  the  crop  was  5,000  bales  ;  in 
1884,  nearly  22,000;  while  in  1885  it  was  only  13,000, 
the  latter  falling  off  being  in  consequence  of  the 
overproduction  of  the  previous  year.  One  half  the 
crop  goes  to  England. 

Broom-Corn. — While  as  a  general  rule  farmers 
throughout  the  country  can  raise  broom-corn  to 
supply  domestic  wants,  in  portions  of  Central  New 
York  it  is  cultivated  as  a  farm-crop,  and  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  supply  brooms  for  the  home  market  and 
also  for  Canada. 

Peppermint. — The  entire  crop  of  this  article  in 
the  United  States  amounts  annually  to  about  thirty- 
five  short  tons  (2,000  pounds),  of  which  nearly  one 
half  is  exported.  Two  thirds  of  the  peppermint-oil 
produced  in  the  country  is  manufactured  in  Central 
New  York,  where  the  same  proportion  of  the  crop  is 
raised ;  the  remaining  one  third  is  made  in  the  State 
of  Michigan. 


XL. 

TIMBER. 

TIMBER  is  a  natural  resource,  since  the  native 
forests  are  not  the  result  of  man's  labor,  but  the 
product  of  Nature.  The  territory  of  the  United 
States,  compared  with  that  of  other  countries,  is  re- 
markably well  timbered.  Said  an  intelligent  gen- 
tleman, when  speaking  of  a  recent  tour  round  the 
world :  "  From  the  time  I  left  the  United  States  till 
my  return  I  did  not  see  a  group  of  trees  that  de- 
served the  name  of  forest."  Though  the  "  prairie 
States "  were  originally  devoid  of  timber,  we  have 
seen  (p.  379)  that  in  the  main  these  fertile  plains,  thus 
destitute,  became  in  consequence  a  far  greater  bless- 
ing to  the  nation  at  large,  and  especially  to  the  peo- 
ple who  migrated  thither,  than  if  they  had  been  cov- 
ered with  dense  forests.  If  in  the  cultivated  sections 
of  the  country  there  is  now  a  scarcity  of  timber,  it 
has  been  the  result  of  a  lack  of  foresight  in  those 
who  owned  the  land,  in  their  not  preserving  more 
carefully  portions  of  the  primitive  forests.  Notwittu 
standing  this  neglect,  an  intelligent  survey  of  those 
portions  of  the  country  once  covered  by  forests,  but 


414  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

now  for  the  greater  part  under  cultivation,  will  dis- 
cover almost  everywhere  intervening  districts  in 
which  still  exist  large  remnants  of  the  original  for- 
est, or  are  instead  covered  by  a  second  growth — an 
earnest  of  the  future.  The  remedy  for  the  scarcity 
of  ordinary  timber  in  time  to  come  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  people  themselves. 

The  Extent  of  Forests. — In  addition  to  the  scat- 
tered remnants  to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  we 
may  take  a  glance  at  the  extent  of  our  other  forests. 
In  New  England  we  have  the  noble  pine-woods  of 
Maine,  and  those  in  the  mountains  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Vermont;  the  Adirondacks  and  Catskills 
of  New  York,  with  the  highlands  of  Northern  New 
Jersey ;  while  the  Alleghanies,  far  superior  to  all 
these,  extend  from  the  Canada  border  nearly  1,000 
miles  to  their  southern  termination  in  Georgia  and 
Alabama,  with  their  foot-hills  jutting  on  their  slopes, 
east  and  west,  in  an  average  width  in  that  direction 
of  nearly  100  miles ;  these  hills  with  the  main  central 
ridge  are  clothed  to  their  very  tops  with  noble  trees. 
East  and  southeast  of  the  Alleghanies  come  the  im- 
mense forests  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia,  while  on  the  north  of  the  Gulf,  including 
Florida,  they  extend  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the 
Mississippi  River.  In  returning  toward  the  north, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Alleghanies,  we  come  upon 
the  forests  along  the  divide  between  the  head- 
streams  of  the  rivers  that  flow  into  the  Gulf  and 
those  that  run  into  the  Ohio,  comprising  portions  of 


The  Pecan.  415 

Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  Kentucky,  and  into  West 
Virginia,  so  marvelously  rich  in  her  native  timber; 
and  across  the  river  we  find  the  eastern  portion  of 
the  State  of  Ohio  and  Western  Pennsylvania  abound- 
ing in  remnants  of  forests  that  find  their  northern 
limit  on  Lake  Erie.  Farther  west,  north  of  the  prai- 
ries, and  along  and  over  the  divide  toward  the 
lakes,  and  on  the  head-streams  of  the  Father  of 
Waters,  are  some  of  the  finest  forests  within  our 
land,  and  to  the  south  in  Eastern  Missouri,  in  Arkan- 
sas, and  Texas.  The  trees  of  the  latter  two  partake 
of  the  general  characteristics  of  those  found  in  the 
other  States  in  the  same  latitude.  Texas  has  forests 
of  pines  whose  trees  are  often  one  hundred  feet 
high,  while  she  takes  pride  in  her  pecans,  as  being 
indigenous  to  her  soil.  This  is  a  species  of  hickory, 
"  the  wood  coarse-grained,  heavy,  and  durable,"  the 
trunks  straight  and  from  fifty  to  seventy  feet  high ; 
the  nuts  are  almost  cone-shaped,  are  fine-flavored  and 
of  good  size.  The  old  trees  in  the  forest  bear  abun- 
dantly. But  Louisiana,  also,  claims  this  tree  as  in- 
digenous to  her  soil  and  "  the  pecan  as  the  richest 
and  most  delicate  nut  in  the  world."  The  tree  in 
that  State  "  attains  an  enormous  size,  often  measur- 
ing fifteen  feet  in  circumference,  the  height  reaching 
to  125  feet,  and  the  shadow  at  noonday  covering  a 
circle  115  feet  in  diameter."  As  the  tree  grows 
older,  its  production  of  nuts  increases  from  year  to 
year.  (Louisiana,  Resources,  etc.,  p.  102.} 

In  this  connection  we  notice  that  amid  the  Rocky 


41 6  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Mountains  are  scattered  groups  of  forests,  here  and 
there,  while  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  lay  claim  to 
timber-lands,  but  of  limited  extent  when  compared 
with  other  Territories  farther  north. 

Pacific  Slope  Trees. — On  the  Pacific  slope  are 
the  most  prolific  forests  in  the  Union,  as  seen  amid 
the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas  or  their  north- 
ern portion,  the  Cascades,  or  along  the  Coast  Range 
and  in  the  valleys  intervening,  and  also  on  the  slopes 
of  Alaska  that  border  on  the  Pacific.  We  include 
among  these  trees  the  famous  mammoth  or  giant 
trees  of  California ;  the  latter  are  in  two  prominent 
groves — Calaveras  and  Mariposa.  These  marvel- 
ously  large  trees  are  protected  by  law,  to  preserve 
them  intact  forever,  as  there  are  none  such  in  the 
world.  By  far  the  most  valuable  tree  of  California 
is  the  redwood,  which  belongs  to  the  same  class  as 
the  mammoth,  though  of  a  different  species.  Groves 
of  redwood  are  found  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  and  along  the  Coast  Range.  These 
trees  are  very  large,  and  the  wood  is  peculiar  in  its 
deep-red  color.  The  wood  of  the  main  trunk  is 
plain  in  texture,  but  the  stumps  and  roots  are  much 
curled,  like  those  of  the  black  walnut,  and  are  used 
by  cabinet-makers  in  veneers  for  ornamental  work. 
When  polished  and  varnished  it  is  nearly  equal  to 
rosewood  in  the  richness  of  its  tints,  and  in  durabil- 
ity to  mahogany,  though  it  is  much  lighter  and  more 
easily  handled.  As  these  trees  are  in  abundance  and 
their  wood  adapted  to  the  ordinary  purposes  for 


Specimens  collected.  417 

which  it  is  used,  the  lumber  derived  from  these  for- 
ests, if  not  wantonly  destroyed,  will  be  sufficient  to 
supply  the  needs  of  the  people  for  generations.  In 
point  of  utility  the  immense  trees  so  densely  stud- 
ding the  soil  of  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory 
far  surpass  any  others  on  the  slope — the  Oregon  pine 
being  the  most  valuable  tree  in  that  region.  Nor 
must  we  omit  to  credit  distant  Alaska  with  extensive 
forests  of  pines,  cedars,  cypress,  spruce,  fir,  and  hem- 
lock, which  are  found  along  her  southern  and  south- 
eastern coasts.  The  latter  strip  of  territory  lies  for 
400  miles  along  the  shore,  and  extends  back  on  an 
average  140  miles  to  the  crest  of  the  mountains,  that 
line  dividing  British  Columbia  from  Alaska.  Among 
the  trees  of  Alaska  is  a  species  of  linden  said  to  be 
peculiarly  well  adapted  for  producing  pulp  from 
which  a  fine  paper  is  made. 

Specimens  collected. — In  the  city  of  New  York, 
the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  has  a 
complete  collection  of  specimens  of  the  various  trees 
from  the  native  forests  of  the  United  States.  Here 
are  512  specimens,  each  one  so  labeled  that  the  vis- 
itor may  ascertain  its  characteristics,  and  learn  from 
the  map  attached  to  it  the  section  of  the  Union  to 
which  it  belongs.  "  These  specimens  are  cut  in  such 
manner  as  to  display  the  bark,  and  cross  and  longi- 
tudinal sections  of  the  wood,  one  half  polished  and 
the  other  in  its  natural  condition."  The  Museum 
owes  this  display  of  American  woods  to  the  public 

spirit  and  benevolence   of  one  of    New  York's    no- 
28 


4i 8  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

ble  sons,  Mr.  Morris  K.  Jesup.  Every  intelligent 
American  citizen,  if  opportunity  serves,  should,  on 
his  own  behalf,  visit  this  collection,  that  he  may 
have  a  conception  of  the  wonderful  variety  of  our 
native  trees,  and  the  extent  of  territory  that  they 
occupy. 

The  Middle  Belt  of  Trees. — In  noticing  these  41 7 
specimens  our  limits  will  only  permit  us  to  speak, 
and  that  very  concisely,  of  a  few  of  the  most  valuable 
and  therefore  important,  and  also  very  briefly  of  the 
uses  to  which  their  woods  are  applied.  There  is  a 
decided  variety  in  the  characteristics  and  the  size  of 
the  trees  indigenous  to  the  United  States.  Through 
the  middle  section  of  the  Union,  extending  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the  thirty-seventh 
to  the  forty-second  parallel  of  latitude,  the  trees  are, 
for  the  most  part,  not  remarkably  tall,  but  are  large 
in  their  trunks  and  in  their  expanding  branches,  so 
that  they  stand  comparatively  thin  upon  the  ground  ; 
the  compensation  consists  in  the  latter  being,  in  con- 
sequence, the  more  easily  brought  under  cultivation. 
We  shall  see  that  in  both  these  respects  there  is  a 
wide  contrast  in  many  of  the  trees,  both  north  and 
south  of  the  lines  just  mentioned.  Throughout  this 
middle  section  are  the  favorite  homes,  including  the 
varieties  of  each,  of  the  oak,  walnut,  hickory,  ash, 
elm  (the  latter  more  in  the  eastern  portion),  spruce, 
hemlock,  sugar-maple,  the  chestnut,  etc.  The  two 
latter  deserve  a  passing  notice.  The  sugar-maple 
finds  its  greatest  development,  west  and  southwest  of 


Sugar- Maple.  419 

the  Alleghanies,  in  the  fertile  valleys  and  in  the  rich 
soil  of  the  hill-sides.  Its  trunks  attain  sometimes 
a  diameter  of  three  or  four  feet,  with  correspond- 
ingly large  and  expanding  branches ;  this  tree  con- 
ferred immense  benefits  upon  the  early  settlers  and 
their  descendants  for  nearly  a  century,  as  its  abun- 
dant sap  was  their  only  source  for  sugar.  But  grow- 
ing in  the  most  fertile  soil  only,  it  has  given  way  to 
cultivated  fields,  and  the  people  now  obtain  their 
sugar  from  the  sugar-cane  of  the  South.  In  contrast 
with  this  immense  tree,  and  its  coarse  and  hard  text- 
ure of  wood,  is  the  comparatively  slender  and  fine- 
grained and  compact  wood  of  the  rock-maple  of  Ver- 
mont and  New  Hampshire,  where  to-day  its  groves 
are  preserved  and  flourish  in  the  valleys  and  on  side- 
hills  and  furnish  a  sugar  delicious  in  flavor. 

Chestnut;  Hickory;  Ash;  Walnut— The  chest- 
nut crosses  the  entire  belt  and  extends  south  along 
the  ridge  of  the  Alleghanies  to  their  southern  ter- 
mination, and  frequently  is  found  in  scattered  groups 
for  scores  and  scores  of  miles,  on  the  hills  of  their 
outspurs  northeast,  east  and  west,  and  southwest. 
This  tree,  upon  the  whole  the  tallest  of  its  own 
region,  furnished  the  early  settler  an  easy-splitting 
and  durable  wood  for  the  rails  of  his  fence,  while  the 
locust  afforded  a  more  lasting  one  for  posts,  and  was 
popular  because  of  its  grateful  shade.  The  woods 
of  this  middle  belt  are  uniformly  hard,  and  are 
adapted  to  purposes  that  do  not  require  long  beams. 
The  hickory,  because  of  its  strength  and  compact- 


420  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

ness,  is  used  for  spokes  of  wagon-  and  carriage- 
wheels,  and  for  handles  of  the  utensils  belonging  to 
the  mechanic  and  the  farmer ;  the  ash,  because  of  its 
strength  and  elasticity,  is  used  for  the  long  handles 
of  agricultural  implements,  and  in  the  wood-work  of 
reaping-  and  mowing-machines.  For  fine  cabinet  or 
furniture  work  are  used  the  cherry,  the  bird's-eye 
maple,  and,  when  a  rich  brown  color  is  desired,  black 
walnut.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  noted  that 
large  quantities  of  American  walnut  are  exported  to 
Europe,  as  it  is  of  a  clear  and  smooth  grain,  in  text- 
ure, while  we  import  the  French  and  German  wal- 
nut, because  it  is  not  straight  in  grain,  but  curled  in 
texture.  In  both  countries  the  plain  walnut  is  deco- 
rated or  trimmed  with  the  fancy  or  curled  according 
to  the  taste  and  skill  of  the  artisan.  The  oak,  the 
ash,  the  walnut,  and  sometimes  the  chestnut  and  the 
maple,  are  often  utilized  in  the  inner  wood-work  of 
churches  and  public  halls,  and  also  in  that  of  private 
dwellings.  These  woods,  being  hard  and  susceptible 
of  a  fine  finish,  are  used  in  their  native  color,  while 
their  beauty  is  greatly  enhanced  by  receiving  a  pol- 
ish. This  enumeration  contains  only  a  tithe  of  the 
uses  to  which  the  woods  of  this  middle  section  are 
applied. 

The  Northern  Belt  of  Trees.  —  North  of  lati- 
tude 42°  comes  the  pine,  by  far  the  most  important 
family  of  our  trees.  This  tree,  being  very  tall,  and 
comparatively  slender,  is  peculiarly  adapted  for 
beams  in  large  edifices  or  in  ship-building  and  for 


The  Pine.  421 

masts  of  ships.  It  has  small  limbs,  compared  with 
the  trunk,  mere  twigs  ;  owing  to  this  peculiarity  of 
the  branches,  the  trees  can  stand  more  thickly  on  the 
ground,  and  therefore  produce  to  the  acre  more 
thousands  of  cubic  feet  of  lumber,  than  any  other 
tree.  In  a  general  view  it  may  be  remarked  that  the 
soil  in  which  the  pine  flourishes  is  for  the  most  part 
sterile,  and  is  ill  adapted  to  reward  the  labor  of  the 
husbandman. 

In  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  Union,  in  the 
State  of  Maine,  are  very  extensive  forests  of  white 
pine,  whose  tall  trunks  loom  up  as  straight  as  an 
arrow.  Passing  west  on  the  same  parallels,  or  nearly 
so,  we  come  upon  the  forests  of  the  Adirondacks 
with  a  sprinkling  of  similar  pines ;  but  farther  west, 
in  the  States  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota, 
abound  immense  woods  filled  with  pines.  In  the  lat- 
ter State,  the  fifteen  counties  in  the  northeastern  por- 
tion bordering  on  Lake  Superior,  and  in  the  eastern 
part,  have  one  fourth  of  their  area  covered  with  for- 
ests of  white  pine.  (State  of  Minnesota,  p.  8.)  We 
pass  still  farther  west  on  the  same  lines,  and  we  come 
upon  the  fertile  soil  and  the  noble  forests  of  Oregon 
and  Washington  Territory.  These  both  have  the 
same  class  of  trees,  such  as  the  pines,  the  sugar,  the 
white  and  yellow — the  latter  two  predominate ;  the 
red,  black,  and  yellow  fir ;  one  species  of  the  latter, 
known  as  the  Lambert,  frequently  runs  to  the  height 
of  300  feet;  large  cedars  remarkable  for  the  fine 
texture  and  fragrance  of  the  wood ;  the  redwood, 


422  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

the  hemlock,  and  the  spruce.  These  names  repre- 
sent only  a  few  of  the  prominent  trees  of  these  for- 
ests, in  some  portions  almost  as  dense  as  those  on  the 
banks  of  the  Amazon.  In  some  districts  the  trees 
are  covered  with  a  moss  of  a  peculiar  orange-green 
color,  with  which  the  branches  are  festooned,  while 
the  ground  underneath  in  certain  seasons  is  fre- 
quently beautiful  with  blooming,  modest  flowers — 
white,  yellow,  and  purple.  Lumber  is  sent  from 
Oregon  and  Washington  Territory  to  the  ship-yards 
of  Europe,  to  be  used  for  spars  and  masts. 

While  the  most  valuable  trees  north  of  parallel 
42°  are  the  different  varieties  of  the  pine,  yet  the 
trees  whose  habitat  is  below  that  line  often  creep 
above  it  within  the  spaces  intervening  between  the 
three  great  pine-forests  just  mentioned.  In  a  similar 
manner  the  pines  themselves  are  sometimes  found, 
though  in  a  straggling  manner,  encroaching  on  the 
middle  belt. 

The  Southern  Belt  of  Forests. — We  have  already 
noticed  the  Alleghanies  and  their  outspurs  covered 
with  various  classes  of  useful  trees,  penetrating  to- 
ward the  south  along  the  western  portion  of  the 
Atlantic  slope.  We  now  find  farther  east  a  similar 
belt  of  forest  commencing  on  the  confines  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  nearer  the  ocean  and  trending  southwest, 
parallel  with  the  coast.  This  belt  extends  from  par- 
allel 37°  across  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia,  then  branching  off  in  two  directions — one 
across  Alabama  into  Mississippi,  the  other  southeast 


Varieties  of  Trees.  423 

into  Florida.  This  entire  belt  may  be  properly 
termed  a  pine  region ;  since,  with  its  number  of 
minor  varieties,  that  is  its  most  important  tree.  This 
vast  forest  region — some  60,000  square  miles  in  ex- 
tent— is  by  no  means  limited  to  the  pine,  as  there  are 
also  other  varieties  of  trees  ;  each  class  valuable  in 
a  degree,  if  not  equal  to  the  pine,  and  which  fill  their 
special  office  in  supplying  the  wants  of  the  people. 

Varieties  of  Trees. — Along  the  entire  coast  are 
found  in  the  lowlands  the  trees  indigenous  to  such 
districts.  Many  of  these  are  hard  woods,  as  the 
white  and  the  live  oak — the  latter  so  necessary  in 
ship-building  by  furnishing  the  knees  for  the  keels  of 
the  wooden  ships ;  the  palmetto,  the  persimmon, 
the  spruce  of  three  varieties,  and  two  kinds  of 
cypress,  which  next  to  the  pine  is  deemed  in  South 
Carolina  its  most  important  tree :  it  is  of  rapid 
growth  and  attains  great  size,  while  it  occupies  only 
waste  places  and  swamps  ;  the  two  kinds  of  cedar : 
the  red,  found  in  the  swamps  of  Florida,  deserves 
further  notice.  It  has  the  most  delicate  texture  of 
any  known  wood,  and  is  used  specially  for  making 
pencils,  and  in  this  respect  has  virtually  the  monop- 
oly of  the  world.  When  Faber,  the  celebrated  pen- 
cil-manufacturer of  Stein  in  Bavaria,  had  exhausted 
his  stock  of  Florida  cedar,  after  the  commencement 
of  the  American  civil  war,  he  was  induced  to  send 
agents  wherever  cedar  grew,  in  order  to  obtain  a 
supply,  but  found  none  to  fully  suit  the  purpose. 

Farther  inland  flourish    hickories  of   seven   vari- 


424  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

eties;  even  the  close-grained  pig-nut  of  the  middle 
belt  grows  very  large,  and  loses  but  little  of  its  com- 
pactness. The  oaks,  of  more  than  a  dozen  kinds, 
grow  on  the  high  and  steep  ridges,  and  are  accom- 
panied by  the  stately  chestnut,  the  hemlock,  the  ash 
of  four  kinds,  the  elm  of  three,  and  the  sycamore. 
In  the  fertile  valleys  of  this  higher  region,  especially 
in  Alabama,  flourish  the  sugar-maple,  the  wild  cherry, 
and  the  black  walnut — the  latter  having  a  texture 
equally  fine  with  that  of  the  middle  belt.  This  is  a 
mere  glimpse  of  the  numerous  trees  that  are  also 
found  within  the  limits  of  the  great  pine  region,  but 
they  are  all  needed  and  none  are  out  of  place. 

The  Southern  Pine. — Below  parallel  37°  we  meet 
with  a  pine  somewhat  different  in  its  characteristics 
from  that  in  the  northern  belt,  inasmuch  as  to  the 
latter's  good  qualities  as  lumber  is  added  in  the 
southern  the  valuable  property  of  producing  turpen- 
tine, tar,  or  pitch,  and  rosin.  These  several  quali- 
ties make  the  pine  the  most  valuable  tree  upon  the 
South  Atlantic  slope.  From  the  days  of  the  early 
colonists  to  the  present  time  the  two  Carolinas  have 
derived  benefits  from  the  active  trade  in  the  prod- 
ucts of  these  forests,  such  as  lumber  in  different 
forms ;  tar,  spirits  of  turpentine,  rosin,  and  naval 
stores  :  the  latter  furnished  these  stores  to  England 
before  the  Revolution,  and  since  then  to  both  her 
and  to  the  United  States  Government.  "  The  value 
of  the  crop  of  naval  stores  produced  in  1880  in  North 
Carolina  alone  was  about  $8,000,000,  while  that  of 


Tar,   Turpentine,  and  Rosin.  425 

South  Carolina  was  estimated  at  one  third  the  aggre- 
gate amount  in  the  United  States."  (Handbooks  of 
North  and  South  Carolina,  pp.  329  and  606.) 

In  this  extended  region  the  pine  attains  its  high- 
est perfection :  it  flourishes  in  sandy  and  for  the 
most  part  barren  soil ;  in  some  sections  standing 
thickly  upon  the  ground,  in  others  more  sparse  ;  in 
the  latter,  owing  to  the  smalmess  of  its  branches,  the 
sun  penetrates  quite  freely  to  the  earth,  which,  being 
free  from  underbrush,  a  variety  of  native  grasses 
abounds,  upon  which  feed  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks 
of  sheep,  as  in  some  of  the  pine-forests  of  Alabama. 

Of  the  ten  varieties  of  pines — some  of  little  im- 
portance— only  two  are  pre-eminently  valuable,  the 
short-leaved  or  pitch-pine  and  the  long-leaved  or 
yellow  or  Georgia  pine — the  latter  thus  named  be- 
cause it  was  at  first  exported  only  from  that  State. 
From  these  two  varieties,  almost  exclusively,  are 
obtained  the  tar,  turpentine,  and  rosin  in  the  United 
States.  The  yellow  or  Georgia  pine  has  in  addition 
a  special  value  because  of  its  great  hardness  and 
compactness  of  texture,  which  makes  it  unrivaled 
for  use  in  public  buildings,  as  in  floors,  and  in  steps 
of  stairways  on  which  the  wear  is  very  great. 
"  South  Carolina  has  20,000  square  miles  of  pine-for- 
ests in  the  lower  part  of  the  State,  which  furnish  the 
very  best  quality  of  yellow  pine."  (Handbook  of  South 
Carolina,  p.  605.)  North  Carolina  has  12,000  square 
miles  of  pine-forest  of  both  kinds ;  Georgia,  15,000; 
Alabama,  estimated  at  12,000;  and  Florida,  at  more 


426  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States, 

than    1,000,    in  addition  to  her  famous   cedars,    and 
about  two  hundred  varieties  of  other  trees. 

Tennessee  and  Kentucky  Forests.— The  State  of 
Tennessee  extends  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains  to 
the  Mississippi  River.  It  occupies  a  plateau  on  the 
divide  between  the  water-shed  toward  the  Gulf  and 
that  toward  the  Ohio  ;  along  its  north  boundary  lies 
the  State  of  Kentucky.  The  two  combined  have 
more  than  50,000  square  miles  of  forests,  abounding 
in  noble  trees.  This  area  includes  their  plains  and 
hill-sides  and  mountains ;  for  the  latter,  though  often 
rough,  are  for  the  most  part  covered  to  their  very 
tops  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  trees.  Of  these  are 
numerous  varieties,  the  oaks  having  about  a  dozen  ; 
the  yellow  and  blue  poplar ;  the  yellow  and  white 
pine  ;  black  as  well  as  white  walnuts,  maples,  firs, 
ashes,  etc.,  and  others — making  in  all  nearly  a  hun- 
dred varieties. 

Apprehensions  are  often  expressed  lest  the  tim- 
ber of  the  United  States  should  ere  long  be  ex- 
hausted. The  salvation  and  increase  of  the  forests 
or  timber  of  the  country  depend  upon  those  who 
have  the  facilities  to  renew  the  forests  by  planting, 
etc.  Meanwhile  the  wanton  waste  of  the  timber,  so 
repugnant  to  common  sense,  must  be  stopped,  and  in 
time  there  will  grow  sufficient  to  supply  for  the  most 
part  the  wants  of  the  people. 

Tan-Bark;  Tannic  Acid.— It  is  proper,  in  con- 
nection with  timber,  to  mention  another  resource- 
that  is,  the  tanning  properties  of  the  barks  of  certain 


The  Canaigre.  427 

trees,  such  as,  in  the  north  middle  portion  of  the 
Union,  of  the  hemlock  and  different  varieties  of  oaks, 
and  the  chestnut-oak  in  the  southern  belt  of  trees. 
The  strength  and  quantity  of  tannic  acid  in  this  class 
of  trees  are  quite  different.  It  is  claimed  that  the 
tanning  properties  of  the  chestnut-oak  which  covers 
the  coal-fields  of  Tennessee,  Georgia,  and  Alabama, 
to  the  extent  of  more  than  10,000  square  miles,  is 
one  third  stronger  than  that  of  the  bark  of  the  same 
kind  of  tree  in  the  northern  section.  It  is  estimated 
that  these  groves  of  chestnut-oak  would  furnish  an- 
nually 300,000  cords  of  tan-bark  for  an  indefinite 
period. 

The  Canaigre. — Tannic  acid  is  also  found  in  a 
plant-root — the  canaigre  (canyaigre) — which  grows 
wild  in  great  abundance  in  portions  of  New  Mexico, 
and  which  has  been  used  from  time  immemorial  by 
the  Indians  in  converting  hides  into  leather.  The 
Department  of  Agriculture  of  the  Territory  obtained 
from  a  competent  chemist  an  analysis  of  the  root, 
which  was  found  to  contain  about  24  per  cent  of 
tannic  acid.  The  roots  have  the  general  shape  of 
the  sweet-potato,  and  are  from  four  to  eight  inches 
long  by  about  one  inch  diameter ;  they  are  of  a  dark- 
brown  color,  while  the  inside  is  of  a  bright  lemon- 
yellow  ;  in  some  respects  the  root  resembles  rhubarb 
and  has  the  odor  of  madder.  Each  plant  has  from 
three  to  six  pounds  of  root,  and  which,  when  it  be- 
comes dry,  still  retains  its  tanning  properties,  the 
latter  not  being  affected  by  long  keeping.  At  pres- 


428  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

ent  this  root  can  be  collected  in  great  abundance, 
and  hopes  are  entertained  that  it  will  yet  be  domes- 
ticated and  cultivated.  (New  Mexico  Illustrated,  pp. 
96,  109.)  American  sumac  gives  of  tannic  acid  from 
24  to  26  per  cent,  while  white  oak  gives  about  9 
per  cent,  and  hemlock  9^  per  cent. 

This  indigenous  plant  abounds  in  Arizona  as  in 
New  Mexico,  and  in  both  these  Territories  within 
recent  years  large  quantities,  amounting  to  many 
thousand  tons,  have  been  gathered  yearly  and  sent 
to  tanneries  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  where 
its  properties  have  been  tested.  It  has  been  more 
used  in  Europe  than  in  the  United  States,  since,  in 
the  former,  the  number  of  trees  producing  tannic 
bark  are  very  limited. 

Meanwhile,  experiments  have  been  in  progress 
to  domesticate  the  plant,  and  with  reasonable  suc- 
cess. In  addition  to  several  hundred  acres  planted 
in  different  localities,  there  were  in  1893  more  than 
2,000  acres  of  canaigre  under  cultivation  in  the  Pecos 
Valley  alone.  It  is  also  found  that  irrigation  greatly 
promotes  the  growth  of  the  plant,  but  as  yet  only 
a  comparatively  small  number  of  farmers  have  en- 
gaged in  its  cultivation.  The  indications  are  that 
in  time  this  industry  will  become  very  valuable  to 
the  people  of  both  these  Territories,  while  confer- 
ring a  vast  benefit  upon  the  whole  Union  by  retard- 
ing to  some  extent  the  destruction,  for  their  bark 
only,  of  our  noble  forests  of  oaks  and  hemlocks. 


XLI. 

GRASSES. 

WE  are  so  accustomed  to  see  the  fields  and 
meadows  carpeted  with  beautiful  green  grasses,  that 
we  scarcely  realize  the  vast  benefits  which  the  latter 
confer  upon  the  people,  by  affording  sustenance  to 
millions  and  millions  of  domestic  animals,  upon 
whose  existence  and  welfare  the  people  themselves 
are  dependent  for  so  many  of  the  comforts  and  even 
necessaries  of  life.  These  grasses  were  originally 
native  or  of  spontaneous  growth,  and  some  have 
since  been  improved  by  cultivation. 

In  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  the  portions 
covered  by  forests,  wild  or  native  grasses  grow  only 
in  comparatively  small  openings,  where  the  power 
of  the  sun's  rays  reach  the  earth ;  these  isolated 
spots  were  termed  by  the  early  colonists  natural 
meadows,  and  to-day,  what  are  known  as  the  prairies, 
though  very  extensive,  are  small  when  compared 
with  the  entire  forest  territory.  The  native  grasses, 
unless  domesticated,  nearly  always  retreat  before  the 
farmer's  plow,  and  their  places  are  taken  permanently 
by  those  that  are  cultivated. 


430  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Varieties  of  Grasses. — About  a  half-dozen  in 
number  would  include  all  the  varieties  of  grasses  in 
the  Union  that  are  cultivated  to  much  extent.  One 
of  the  most  useful  of  these,  the  timothy,  does  its  share 
in  the  fields  and  meadows  in  pasturing  stock,  but  is 
oftener  raised  only  for  hay ;  and  it  appears  to  retain 
the  greater  portion  of  its  nutritious  properties  when 
thus  cured  for  winter  use.  It  was  noted  as  a  wild 
grass  in  colonial  times,  and  was  domesticated  by  Mr. 
Timothy  Hanson,  of  Maryland,  in  which  State,  as  far 
as  known,  it  originated.  It  was  called  timothy,  from 
Mr.  tlanson's  Christian  name,  though  it  has  been 
sometimes  improperly  named  herds-grass.  Mr. 
Hanson  took  some  of  the  seed  to  England  in  1780, 
where  it  was  introduced,  and  is  still  cultivated. 
When  seeded  in  connection  with  red  clover,  the 
combination  enhances  the  value  of  both  the  pastur- 
age and  the  hay,  but  in  the  field  it  continues  to 
flourish  without  seed-renewal  much  longer  than 
the  clover  sown  with  it.  Timothy  can  be  seeded  in 
combination  with  the  cereals,  such  as  wheat,  rye,  oats, 
etc.,  as  well  as  in  connection  with  red  clover.  No 
one  of  our  grasses  is  so  much  diffused  over  the  land, 
nor  one  upon  the  whole  so  useful,  as  timothy. 

White  and  Red  Clover. — When  the  forests  are 
removed,  oftentimes  the  white  clover  springs  out  of 
the  soil  spontaneously,  as  if  the  "  seed  was  in  the 
earth/'  and  was  only  waiting  for  the  rays  of  the  sun 
to  call  it  into  life,  and  thus  it  is  often  seen  in  the 
sunny  openings  in  the  midst  of  the  surrounding 


Grasses  amid  the  Pines.  431 

forests.  There  are,  according  to  botany,  fifty-nine 
species  of  clover,  the  most  important  of  which  is 
the  red  or  trefoil  or  three-leaved.  It  is  thus 
named  from  the  color  of  its  ball-shaped  head  or 
blossom.  In  this  blossom,  as  well  as  in  the  smaller 
one  of  the  white  clover,  exists  a  sweetness  of  taste 
similar  to  honey,  and  both  flowers  are  favorites  of 
the  honey-bee.  The  red  clover  can  be  seeded  down 
by  itself,  or  in  connection  with  the  cereals ;  the  sec- 
ond year  it  grows  luxuriantly  as  pasture,  or  it  may 
be  cured  as  hay  for  winter  use,  and  the  cattle  eat  it 
as  though  they  found  it  delicious. 

Grasses  amid  the  Pines. — The  native  grasses  in 
some  of  the  States  on  the  South  Atlantic  slope  come 
into  use  early  in  spring,  as  in  the  lowlands  of  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia,  such  as  "  the  piny  woods- 
sedge,"  and  "  switch-cane,"  and  even  the  "  Spanish 
long  moss  all  through  the  winter  continues  succu- 
lent and  nourishing,  and  is  eaten  greedily  by  all 
stock."  The  wire-grass  of  the  pine-forests  is  quite 
nutritious,  though  coarse  and  repulsive  in  appear- 
ance, and  also  the  Bermuda-grass,  which,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  some,  is  a  worthy  rival  of  the  red-top,  or  of 
timothy.  Bermuda-grass  seems  to  be  well  adapted 
to  sheep-raising.  In  this  section  lucern — "  the  queen 
of  all  forage  plants  " — is  utilized  as  a  companion  of 
red  clover.  The  former  is  high  enough  for  cutting 
by  the  middle  of  February,  and  "  has  been  proved  by 
experiment  to  be  the  most  nutritious  of  all  green  food 
for  stock."  (Commonwealth  of  Georgia,  pp.  j{£, 


432  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

The  Blue-Grass. — This  famous  and  valuable  grass 
had  its  origin  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  in 
the  central  portion  of  the  State  of  Kentucky.  The 
early  settlers  noticed  in  the  forest  openings  a  re- 
markable native  grass  that  densely  covered  the 
ground.  It  was  of  a  rich,  dark-green  color,  with  a 
bluish  tinge — hence  the  name,  blue-grass  ;  and  where 
it  thus  grew  spontaneously  is  designated  as  the  blue- 
grass  region.  This  friend  of  the  lowing  herds  wakes 
from  its  winter  sleep  in  the  first  month  of  spring,  and 
hastens  to  fulfill  its  office  by  covering  the  fields  in 
green.  "  It  spreads  a  verdure  so  soft  and  fine  in 
texture,  so  entrancing  in  its  freshness,  that  it  looks 
like  a  deep-lying,  thick-matted  moss."  This  nutri- 
tious grass,  adapted  to  all  classes  of  stock — even  the 
swine  eat  it  with  relish — covers  all  the  stretches  of 
woodland  pastures,  and  over  the  meadows  and  lawns, 
along  the  lanes  and  in  fence-corners,  and  in  every 
place  where  it  can  get  foothold. 

The  seed  ripens  in  June ;  during  July  and  August 
it  appears  to  cease  growing ;  it  is  very  sensitive  to 
moisture,  and  should  rain  fail,  and  the  heat  be  great, 
it  seems  almost  to  die  out,  but,  when  the  rains  of 
closing  summer  or  of  early  autumn  come,  it  rapidly 
revives  and  speedily  clothes  the  fields  again,  though 
with  a  slight  diminution  of  the  nutritious  properties 
it  had  in  the  spring  and  summer.  If  the  season  is 
mild,  it  continues  into  early  winter,  and  even  for  a 
time  grows  a  little.  The  valuable  properties  of  this 
grass  are  seen  in  their  effects  upon  dairy  products, 


The  Buffalo-Grass.  433 

and  in  fattening  cattle  and  sheep.  Enthusiastic  turf- 
men affirm  that  "  it  gives  solidity  to  bone  and 
strength  of  tendon,  firmness  and  elasticity  of  muscle, 
power  of  nerve  and  capacity  of  lung  "  to  the  race- 
horse. 

The  use  of  this  valuable  grass  is  rapidly  extend- 
ing into  all  those  sections  of  the  country  where  the 
climate  and  the  soil  are  adapted  to  produce  its  fruit- 
fulness.  West  Virginia  and  Missouri  claim  it  as  one 
of  their  indigenous  grasses.  "  Blue-grass  fairly  lux- 
uriates in  this  deep,  flexible  soil,  and  is  fast  making 
conquest  of  forest  and  prairie.  It  has  as  fine  growth 
here  as  in  the  far-famed  Kentucky,  and  by  right  of  con- 
quest is  the  successor  of  the  native  wild  grasses." 
{Handbook  of  Missouri,  pp.  14.0,  238.) 

The  Buffalo-Grass. — One  American  grass — the 
buffalo — appears  to  spring  spontaneously  from  the 
soil,  for  a  special  and  limited  purpose,  and  when  that 
is  accomplished  it  disappears,  as  it  is  incapable  of 
being  domesticated  like  the  timothy  and  the  blue- 
grass.  It  is  said  to  flourish  best  at  an  elevation  of 
3,000  feet  or  more  above  the  ocean.  Upon  it  the 
buffaloes  live  almost  entirely — hence  the  name ;  the 
two  are  found  together  upon  the  Western  plains,  and 
as  the  one  becomes  extinct,  the  other  disappears,  but 
not  before  it  has  also,  for  some  years,  it  may  be, 
afforded  sustenance  to  the  domestic  cattle  of  the  set- 
tler in  the  vicinity.  Buffalo-grass  seeds  in  the  root, 
and  can  not  be  transplanted,  and  as  soon  as  the  land 

of  the  prairie  is  broken  by  the  farmer's  plow,  and  it 
29 


434  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

is  turned  under,  it  dies,  and  the  roots,  matted  to- 
gether several  inches  thick,  decompose  and  become 
fertilizers.  The  line  of  this  grass,  extending  north 
and  south  for  nearly  1,500  miles,  is  rapidly  retreat- 
ing before  the  clover,  the  blue-grass,  and  timothy  ; 
the  farmers  can  sustain  many  more  domestic  cattle, 
on  an  equal  area  of  land,  than  the  original  grass  sus- 
tained of  the  buffalo,  the  deer,  or  antelope.  This 
native  grass  is  from  two  to  four  inches  high,  but  is 
as  thick,  according  to  some  authorities,  "  almost  as 
wool  on  a  sheep's  back."  It  has  the  remarkable 
property  of  curing  in  the  warm  sun  just  as  it  stands, 
and  becomes  virtually  hay,  but  retaining  its  nutri- 
tious elements.  On  this  hay  the  buffaloes  and  deer 
feed  during  the  winter,  often  scraping  off  the  snow 
with  their  hoofs.  This  grass  is  produced  in  great 
abundance  during  the  months  of  April,  May,  and 
June  ;  then  come  the  hot  suns  of  July  and  August, 
which  cure  it,  thus  making  a  fine  nutritious  food  for 
the  animals  during  the  winter. 

Other  Wild  or  Native  Grasses. — The  immense 
value  to  the  American  people  of  the  wild  native 
grasses  that  cover  the  plains  of  the  West  may  be 
inferred  from  the  multitudes  of  cattle  which  are 
pastured  upon  them.  Great  herds,  often  numbering 
many  thousands,  are  raised  in  these  regions,  to  sup- 
ply the  wants  of  the  people  in  the  Eastern  States,  or 
to  be  sent  across  the  ocean  to  the  markets  of  Europe. 
Nor  is  this  all ;  for  in  districts  that  are  suitable  for 
the  purpose  are  raised  on  the  same  grasses  many 


Grasses  of  the  Prairies.  435 

millions  of  sheep  to  furnish  wool  and  food  for  the 
people.  In  addition,  these  grasses,  until  superseded 
by  those  that  are  cultivated,  sustain  the  stock  of  the 
settlers  along  a  line  running  north  and  south  nearly 
1,000  miles.  These  plains,  that  furnish  such  an 
amount  of  food  to  this  portion  of  our  domestic  ani- 
mals, extend  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  from  the  Rio 
Grande  to  the  British  possessions  —  about  1,500 
miles. 

The  native  grasses  of  the  prairies  present  numer- 
ous varieties  ;  the  number  of  these  has  been  placed  by 
Prof.  Aughey,  of  Nebraska  University,  at  more  than 
a  hundred  and  fifty :  but  that  is  the  minute  detail  of 
the  botanist.  Though  these  differences  exist,  there 
is  much  similarity  among  them  in  respect  to  their  in- 
trinsic value  as  food  for  animals.  For  illustration,  on 
the  prairies  of  the  four  Northern  Territories,  we 
meet  with  what  is  called  bunch-grass — thus  named  from 
the  huddled  manner  in  which  it  grows.  In  its  com- 
position are  elements  in  common  with  the  buffalo,  but 
owing,  perhaps,  to  the  character  of  the  soil  in  which 
it  grows,  it  appears  in  a  different  form.  One  author- 
ity speaks  of  it  as  "  combining  the  food  qualities  of 
both  hay  and  grain,  and  which  supports  cattle, 
horses,  and  sheep  the  year  round  "  ;  another  charac- 
terizes bunch-grass  as  a  "  combination  of  buffalo- 
grass  and  oats.  ...  It  cures  itself  where  it  grows, 
and  during  the  winter  the  snowfall  in  that  region— 
the  four  Territories  just  mentioned — is  usually  light, 


43 6  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

so  that  domestic  animals  find  feeding-ground  in  the 
severest  weather."  Montana,  for  instance,  east  of  the 
advanced  spurs  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  "  is  a  vast 
pasture-land  that  formerly  supported  millions  of  buf- 
faloes and  deer,  but  is  now  being  rapidly  occupied 
for  cattle-  and  sheep-ranges,"  so  that  stock-raising  on 
these  enormous  natural  pastures  is  becoming  more 
and  more  important.  On  the  fertile  prairies  and  in 
the  rich  valleys  of  Dakota,  "  the  grass  grows  luxuri- 
antly, covering  even  the  high  summits  and  table- 
lands five  hundred  feet  above  the  valley." 

Farther  south,  we  find  in  Utah  extensive  stock- 
ranges,  though  the  native  grass  is  not  deemed  quite 
equal  to  the  buffalo  and  gramma  of  the  plains  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  latter  grows,  as  else- 
where, in  bunches,  and  in  apparently  barren  places  : 
early  in  the  season  it  cures  standing,  and  still  retain- 
ing its  nutritive  qualities.  Colorado  and  Nevada, 
also,  have  a  share  of  the  same  kind  of  wild  grasses, 
but  not  to  so  great  an  extent.  New  Mexico  has 
many  thousand  square  miles  that  are  covered  with 
wild  grasses,  the  gramma  and  its  varieties,  white 
and  black;  it  belongs  to  the  family  of  the  buffalo- 
grass  of  the  other  Territories.  It  grows  in  bunches 
and  is  very  nutritious,  and  furnishes  food  at  all  sea- 
sons for  all  classes  of  stock.  "  It  is  flowerless  and 
seedless,  and  covers  the  broad  plains  and  the  mount- 
ain-sides with  withered-looking  bunches  that  seem 
to  combine  the  qualities  of  grain  and  the  best  of 
hay  in  the  greatest  perfection." 


Alfalfa.  437 

Arizona  has  60,000  square  miles  or  more  of  excel- 
lent grazing-lands,  out  of  her  1 14,000  of  territory. 
Except  in  a  few  strips  of t the  country  and  the  strictly 
mountainous  regions,  there  is  no  portion  of  the  Ter- 
ritory without  a  growth  of  grass  ;  though  a  very 
different  impression  has  hitherto  gone  abroad. 
These  grasses  partake  of  the  general  characteris- 
tics of  those  found  in  New  Mexico,  both  as  to  their 
appearance  and  remarkable  nutritive  properties,  cat- 
tle thriving  on  it  as  much  in  winter  as  in  summer. 
(Handbooks  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona?) 

Alfalfa. — This  is  also  known  as  Chilian  clover,  as 
it  appears  to  have  been  introduced  from  that  coun- 
try ;  it  is  a  very  valuable  grass,  belonging  to  the 
clover  family,  and  appears  to  be  well  adapted 
to  Southern  New  Mexico  and  Southern  California, 
though  it  seems  not  to  have  been  introduced  into 
Arizona.  It  is  cultivated  and  yields  in  great  abun- 
dance, and  the  stock  not  only  eat  it  with  avidity,  but 
on  it  thrive  and  fatten.  This  clover-grass  attains  a 
height  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  inches,  and  during 
the  season  can  be  cut  several  times,  and  is  of  course 
the  most  available  green  forage  in  the  summer. 
"  Alfalfa,  when  in  blossom,  from  May  to  September, 
affords  the  best  of  pasturage,  not  only  for  stock  and 
swine,  but  for  the  honey-bee."  (Handbook  of  New 
Mexico,  p.  109.) 

In  Southern  California  this  kind  of  clover  is  much 
cultivated,  and,  with  proper  irrigation,  produces 
three  crops  a  year,  and  averages  from  six  to  eight 


438  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

tons  to  the  acre,  while  the  white  and  red  clover  will 
yield  but  one  crop  a  year.  The  alfalfa  "  will  pro- 
duce more  than  double  that  of  any  other  clover 
known ;  and,  if  the  quality  is  not  quite  equal  to  the 
red  and  the  white,  it  certainly  makes  a  very  good 
feed  in  far  greater  abundance."  It  is  fed  to  work- 
horses and  milch-cows ;  and  swine,  even,  keep  fat 
on  it  in  that  climate. 


XLII. 


ORCHARD-FRUITS. 


THE  numerous  fruits,  great  and  small,  of  the 
United  States  add  immensely  to  the  means  of  sus- 
tenance and  comfort  of  the  people ;  these,  taken  as  a 
whole,  include  the  fruits  of  the  temperate  zone,  and 
also  those  of  the  sub-tropical.  Owing  to  our  in- 
creasing and  rapid  inter-communication  between  the 
different  portions  of  the  Union,  by  means  of  ocean- 
steamers,  of  steamboats  on  the  rivers,  and  railways, 
the  products  of  the  fruit  areas  of  the  country  are 
made  available  for  all  the  people.  Among  these, 
that  prince  of  orchard-fruits,  the  apple,  because  of  its 
many  excellent  qualities,  stands  pre-eminent  in  value. 
It  is  the  most  abundant  in  production  and  the  most 
useful,  and  confers  more  benefits  upon  the  people 
than,  perhaps,  all  the  others  combined.  It  contains 
elements  that  are  conducive  to  health  and  nourish- 
ment, and  is  susceptible  of  being  prepared  as  food  in 
numerous  ways.  The  comparatively  long  life  of 
this  tree,  and  the  almost  endless  varieties  of  the  fruit 
—amounting  to  several  hundreds — greatly  enhance 
its  value.  Certain  kinds  ripen  and  become  mellow 


440  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

on  the  tree  during  the  summer  and  the  autumn, 
while  still  larger  and  varied  classes,  which  in  the 
end  are  the  most  useful,  after  having  had  their  per- 
fect growth,  and  having  ripened  on  the  tree,  can  be 
stored  away  to  develop  their  juices,  not  meanwhile 
deteriorating,  but  improving  in  flavor,  and  becoming 
luscious  to  the  taste,  while  retaining  their  peculiar 
fragrance  to  the  end.  The  process  recently  (1876) 
introduced,  of  evaporating  in  a  few  minutes  the 
moisture  of  the  apple  without  depriving  it  of  flavor, 
greatly  increases  its  value.  The  less  choice  apples 
are  made  into  cider  for  domestic  use,  or  to  be  con- 
verted into  pure  vinegar.  The  property  of  being 
kept  in  store  enables  the  merchant  to  transport 
apples  to  long  distances  in  our  own  country,  and 
even  across  the  ocean.  This  is  in  marked  contrast 
with  our  sub-tropical  fruits,  the  bananas,  oranges, 
etc.,  which  are  so  perishable  by  nature  that  they 
must  be  taken  from  the  tree  and  sent  to  distant 
markets  before  they  are  fully  ripe,  and  have  per- 
fectly developed  their  juices  and  flavor;  in  conse- 
quence, after  their  long  journey,  they  are  found  to 
be  somewhat  deficient  in  these  desirable  qualities. 

The  Apple  Belt— Consistent  with  the  great  use- 
fulness of  the  apple,  is  its  wide  diffusion  over  the 
Union.  The  apple  belt  extends  across  the  continent, 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  in  the  northern 
and  middle  portion  without  a  break,  while  it  stretches 
far  south  on  the  highlands  and  plateaus  to  such  an  ex- 
tent as  to  be  virtually  universal.  Though  the  apple 


Johnny  Appleseed.  441 

develops  best  in  the  northern  and  middle  portion  of 
the  Union,  yet  a  few  of  the  summer  species  are  some- 
times found  in  the  vicinity  of  the  sub-tropical  fruits, 
as  on  the  lower  portions  of  the  South  Atlantic  slope. 
There  is  not  a  single  State  or  Territory  that  is  de- 
void of  the  apple. 

Johnny  Appleseed. — Gratitude  forbids  us  to  for- 
get the  humble  services  of  Johnny  Appleseed.  This 
name,  so  characteristic,  was  given  him  by  the  early 
settlers  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  because 
of  his  custom  of  planting  the  seeds  in  open  spaces  in 
the  wilderness,  that  apple-trees  might  greet  the  set- 
tlers when  they  came.  His  real  name  was  Jonathan 
Chapman.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  in  1775,  and  in 
early  manhood  appeared  in  Western  Pennsylvania. 
He  obtained  his  seeds  from  the  cider-mills  in  the 
older  settlements  of  the  latter  State,  and  then,  pass- 
ing over  the  Ohio  River  into  the  almost  unbroken 
wilderness,  he  often  carried  these  seeds  himself, 
though  sometimes  using  a  horse.  When  he  wished 
to  reach  settlements  on  the  banks  of  the  river  farther 
down  or  west,  he  would  load  a  canoe  with  seeds,  and 
float  it  down  to  them.  No  doubt  the  efforts  of  this 
eccentric  but  kind-hearted  man  resulted,  directly  or 
indirectly,  in  great  benefits  to  the  three  States  that 
now  occupy  the  peninsula  between  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Rivers.  Says  the  "  Grange  Visitor  "  : 
"  Johnny  Appleseed  laid  the  foundation  for  the  im- 
mense growth  of  fruit-trees,  whose  yield  to-day 
forms  so  important  a  part  of  the  annual  products 


442  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

of  the  great  State  of  Ohio."  He  began  his  work 
in  that  State  in  1801.  He  scorned  to  be  depend- 
ent, but  supported  himself.  To  accomplish  this,  he 
would  sometimes  select  a  suitable  opening  in  the 
woods,  where  the  sun's  rays  reached  the  earth ;  there 
he  would  plant  his  seeds,  and,  to  protect  the  young 
trees,  inclose  the  place  with  a  brush  fence.  In  due 
time  he  would  return  and  sell  these  young  trees  to 
the  settlers,  in  order  to  be  independent,  and  also 
have  the  means  to  prosecute  his  benevolent  work, 
and  thus  he  labored  during  very  many  years.  If  a 
settler  wrere  really  too  poor  to  purchase,  he  presented 
him  a  number  of  trees.  Numerous  places  that  he 
thus  planted  he  never  visited  again,  but  left  them  for 
the  incoming  settler. 

The  Peach. — Next  in  importance  to  the  apple 
comes  the  peach,  a  luscious  and  delicate  fruit  and  of 
a  peculiar  flavor.  It  originally  came  from  Persia. 
The  blossoms  are  very  tender,  and  liable  to  be 
injured  by  frosts  late  in  the  spring,  or  by  sudden 
changes  of  temperature,  and  the  buds  by  very  cold 
weather  even  in  the  latter  part  of  winter.  The  trees 
are  frequently  a  prey  to  numerous  insects,  and  upon 
the  whole  are  also  short-lived.  These  conditions 
render  the  peach-crop,  perhaps,  the  most  uncertain 
of  our  orchard-fruits.  In  its  native  state  the  peach 
soon  decays,  and,  in  order  to  keep  it  for  future  use, 
it  must  be  preserved  by  canning,  in  which  process 
its  flavor  is  somewhat  diminished ;  while  it  is  used 
only  as  a  relish  or  delicacy.  The  new  process  of 


The  Peach  Belt.  443 

rapidly  evaporating  the  moisture  of  the  peach,  re- 
tains its  flavor,  and  thereby  greatly  increases  its  use- 
fulness, as  in  the  case  of  the  apple. 

The  peach-tree,  under  some  mysterious  influence, 
is  liable  to  disappear  from  whole  sections  of  the 
country,  or  linger  on  in  a  half-living  and  unproduc- 
tive condition ;  and  yet,  after  the  lapse  of  a  third  or 
a  half  century,  a  different  variety,  when  introduced, 
will  sometimes  flourish  almost  equally  with  the  origi- 
nal stock. 

The  Peach  Belt. — The  peach  area  on  the  Atlan- 
tic slope  includes,  to-day,  principally  portions  of  the 
States  of  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and 
Pennsylvania,  though  within  recent  years  the  fruit 
appears  to  be  gradually  occupying  districts  where  it 
flourished  half  a  century  ago,  as  in  certain  portions 
of  New  York  State.  Farther  south,  along  the  east- 
ern foot-hills  of  the  Alleghanies,  the  peach  grows 
and  produces  sufficient  to  supply  domestic  wants, 
and  in  portions  of  the  Carolinas,  and  on  the  high- 
lands of  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  but  in 
limited  quantities.  The  State  of  Georgia  cultivates 
a  very  large  area  in  peach-orchards,  and  produces  a 
fruit  of  a  remarkably  fine  quality.  The  Horticult- 
ural Society  of  the  State  reports  that  within  its 
limits  are  fifty-five  varieties  of  the  peach.  "  The 
advantages  possessed  by  the  peach-grower  of  Geor- 
gia far  exceed  those  enjoyed  by  the  orchardist  of  any 
other  State  in  the  Union."  (Commonwealth  of  Geor- 
gia, p.  336.)  The  peach  ripens  early  in  that  section 


444  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

and  becomes  fully  developed,  but  the  value  of  the 
fruit  to  the  people  at  large  can  be  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  introduction,  where  the  peach  grows  and 
ripens  according  to  nature,  of  extensive  canning  and 
evaporating  establishments,  by  means  of  which  the 
delicate  flavor  of  the  fruit  can  be  retained.  In  this 
State  are  peach-orchards,  great  and  small,  reaching 
as  high  as  70,000,  in  their  number  of  trees.  Florida 
is  also  engaged  in  the  industry  of  peach  growing. 
Says  the  Florida  Times-Union  :  "  The  wide-spread  in- 
terest in  the  peach  and  its  productiveness  promise 
to  be  as  remunerative  in  yield  as  the  orange  or  the 
lemon." 

The  Peach  in  the  West— In  the  States  and  Ter- 
ritories within  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  except 
in  the  northern  part,  the  peach  is  almost  everywhere 
found  in  company  with  the  apple,  though  its  relative 
production  is  not  equal  to  that  fruit.  Texas  in  the 
West,  like  Georgia  in  the  East,  is  the  first  in  the  sea- 
son to  produce  the  peach  in  perfection.  Says  the 
Galveston  "  News  "  :  "  By  the  first  of  June  the  peo- 
ple of  North  Texas  are  enjoying  the  luxury  of  that 
luscious  fruit,  the  peach." 

The  State  of  Missouri  is  also  specially  productive 
in  peaches.  The  cultivation  of  this  fruit  has  in- 
creased in  California  at  a  manifold  rate,  and  that  in 
districts  once  thought  to  be  unfavorable  to  its  pro- 
duction. The  fruit  is  of  an  excellent  quality,  as,  for 
instance,  that  grown  on  the  foot-hills  of  the  famed 
Santa  Clara  Valley.  These  peach-orchards  supply 


Pears. — Quinces.  445 

the  Rocky  Mountain  region  and  the  northern  portion 
of  the  Pacific  slope. 

Pears,  Plums,  Cherries,  and  Quinces.— These 
four  fruits  are  so  well  known  and  so  extensively  cul- 
tivated, that  to  go  into  details  concerning  them 
would  seem  superfluous.  They  are  specially  valu- 
able, as  they  are  so  capable  of  being  preserved  in 
cans  and  in  such  manner  as  to  retain  much  of  their 
original  flavor.  The  pear  is  usually  considered  sec- 
ond in  value  to  the  peach :  its  varieties  are  numer- 
ous, and  they  are  found  in  different  sections  of  the 
land,  as  the  tree  has  the  unusual  power  of  accommo- 
dating itself  to  its  surroundings ;  thus,  different  from 
the  apple  and  the  peach,  it  flourishes  in  the  sea-coast 
country  of  the  South  Atlantic,  and  also  on  the  high- 
lands in  the  interior.  The  pear  is  propagated  by  cut- 
tings or  grafts,  and  the  skillful  fruit-grower  can  thus 
reproduce  to  any  extent  the  peculiarities  of  the  speci- 
men selected.  For  illustration,  it  is  recorded  of  a 
tree — the  first  bearer  of  the  pear  known  as  Le  Conte 
— in  Georgia,  "  from  which  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  trees  have  been  propagated."  (Commonwealth  of 
Georgia,  p.  JJ?.)  The  three  foremost  States  in  the 
production  of  pears  are  California,  Georgia,  and 
Florida.  The  former  also  takes  the  lead  in  apricots, 
cousins  of  the  plum,  and  also  nectarines,  bearing  a 
similar  relation  to  the  peach.  The  California  pear 
is  deemed  by  many  the  best  fruit  grown  in  the  State ; 
these  pears  in  vast  quantities  are  consumed  in  the  cit- 
ies of  the  valley  and  in  those  east  of  the  Alleghanies. 


446  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Plums  flourish  throughout  the  temperate  zone, 
wherever  the  apple  or  the  peach  grows.  In  some 
sections,  apparently  from  local  influences  of  climate 
or  soil,  they  are  more  productive  than  in  others. 
The  varieties  of  the  plum  are  numerous,  and  skillful 
nurserymen  are  steadily  increasing  their  number 
and  also  improving  their  quality.  The  cherry  is  also 
widely  diffused,  though  its  importance  as  food  is  not 
equally  great  with  either  of  the  two  former.  Its  vari- 
eties are  not  more  than  half  as  many  as  those  of  the 

./ 

pear,  but  its  value  is  much  enhanced  by  its  capabil- 
ity of  being  easily  canned  or  preserved  for  future 
use.  The  quince  stands  pre-eminent  as  a  fruit  suscep- 
tible of  being  prepared  and  used  as  a  preserve ;  and, 
as  the  tree  is  less  productive  than  any  other,  the 
peculiarly  rich  flavor  and  pleasant  taste  of  the  fruit 
compensate  for  the  deficiency. 

THE   ORANGE. 

The  orange  is  not  indigenous  to  the  United 
States.  The  trees  producing  the  Seville  or  sour 
orange  were  brought  to  Florida  by  Spanish  Catho- 
lic priests  or  missionaries,  about  the  year  1570,  and 
the  tree  and  its  fruit  were  scattered  over  the  region 
by  the  Indians.  The  sweet  orange  was  unknown  in 
Europe  at  that  time,  but  was  introduced  there,  about 
thirty  years  later,  probably  from  Asia  Minor  or  the 
Grecian  isles.  The  sweet-orange  trees  were  after- 
ward, also,  brought  to  Florida  by  Spanish  colonists, 
and  planted  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Augustine ;  thence 


Localities  of  the  Orange.  447 

they  were  carried  to  the  settlements  on  the  St.  John's 
and  Indian  Rivers.  The  pollen  and  the  flowers  of 
these  two  species — the  sour  and  the  sweet — in  the 
course  of  time  mingled  and  produced  that  hybrid, 
the  bitter-sweet  orange ;  though  the  former  two  pre- 
vail in  the  forests,  and  still  preserve  their  individual 
characteristics. 

In  the  lower  counties  of  Georgia  are  native 
groves  of  sour-orange  trees.  In  the  same  localities 
sweet  oranges  of  fine  flavor  and  size  are  easily  raised 
for  domestic  use,  and  also  on  the  sea-islands  on  the 
coast,  though  the  sweet  orange  finds  its  better  devel- 
opment farther  south,  in  Florida. 

Localities  of  the  Orange. — Three  sections  of  the 
United  States  are  prominent  in  the  production  of 
the  orange :  a  portion  of  Florida,  of  Louisiana — the 
trees  of  the  latter  derived,  evidently,  from  the  former 
— and  of  Southern  California.  The  area  in  Florida, 
possessing  the  best  conditions  under  which  the  or- 
ange can  be  cultivated  to  perfection,  is  estimated  by 
a  careful  authority  at  10,000  square  miles.  The 
sweet  orange  raised  in  this  State  is  remarkable  for 
its  excellent  flavor,  so  that  in  size,  in  production,  and 
general  good  qualities,  it  is  pre-eminent.  "  Taken 
from  the  tree  in  full  maturity,  the  Florida  oranges 
surpass  in  excellence  all  others  wherever  grown. 
.  .  .  Their  unusual  keeping  qualities  enables  the 
grower  to  continue  the  fruit  season  six  months." 
(Florida  Times-Union^  On  these  trees  may  be  seen 
at  the  same  time  the  blooming  blossom,  the  green 


448  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

fruit  and  the  ripe.  The  groves  are  beautiful  beyond 
compare  ;  the  golden  fruit  and  the  white  flowers 
appearing  amid  the  green  foliage,  while  a  delicious 
fragrance  penetrates  the  whole  atmosphere.  Each 
tree  during  the  season  on  an  average  yields  two 
thousand  oranges,  and  one  acre,  when  properly  man- 
aged, has  been  known  to  produce  ten  tons  of  oranges. 
The  growing  of  this  fruit  is  a  very  important  indus- 
try of  the  State ;  the  modes  of  cultivation  are  con- 
stantly improving,  and  also  the  methods  of  propagat- 
ing the  best  varieties.  The  tree  itself  will  live  about 
one  hundred  years,  and  continue  bearing  fruit  to  the 
end.  The  first  varieties  are  often  propagated  by 
seedlings  or  by  budding  the  choice  stock  on  the  long- 
lived  trees  of  the  wild  grove.  The  scientific  cultiva- 
tion of  the  orange  is  in  its  youth,  if  not  in  its  infancy, 
and  experiments  by  enterprising  growers  are  grad- 
ually improving  the  qualities  of  the  fruit. 

Louisiana  Oranges. — These  partake  of  the  gen- 
eral qualities  of  those  of  Florida ;  however,  the  yield 
is  enormous,  said  to  be  much  larger  to  the  tree  than 
in  Florida,  but  whether  the  flavor  is  equal  is  unde- 
cided, as  the  orange,  because  of  its  delicate  constitu- 
tion, is  easily  affected  by  climatic  influences.  The 
favorite  locality  of  the  orange  in  this  State  is  a  dis- 
trict commencing  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, about  forty  miles  below  New  Orleans,  and 
thence  extending  to  within  a  short  distance  of  Fort 
Jackson.  There  is  along  this  bank  for  thirty  miles 
an  almost  continuous  grove  of  orange-trees,  the 


California  Oranges.  449 

number  of  which  in  separate  orchards  ranges  from 
a  few  score  up  to  ten  thousand.  As  an  evidence  of 
this  being  a  genial  home  for  the  orange,  there  are,  it 
is  claimed,  trees  in  this  district  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  old,  and  which  are  still  producing  fruit. 

As  Florida  sends  supplies  of  her  luscious  fruit  to 
the  cities  and  villages  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  so  Lou- 
isiana performs  a  similar  service  for  the  people 
dwelling  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  Cali- 
fornia, also,  sends  thither  car-loads  of  oranges  and 
other  fruits  to  aid  in  the  good  work  of  supplying  the 
great  cities  and  villages  of  the  upper  portion  of  the 
valley. 

California  Oranges. — The  counties  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  this  State  produce  immense  quantities  of 
oranges  and  other  sub-tropical  fruits.  These  fruits 
are  marvelously  large,  but  said  to  be  deficient  in 
flavor  when  compared  with  those  raised  in  the  East, 
though  the  latter  are  smaller  in  size.  The  soil 
and  the  climate  of  this  region  appear  wonderfully 
adapted  for  the  production  of  fruits  of  various  kinds, 
not  only  in  large  quantities,  but  in  unusual  perfection. 
In  cultivating  the  orange,  irrigation  is  often  resorted 
to  with  great  advantage.  The  first  portion  of  the 
orange-crop  is  usually  ready  for  market  from  the 
ist  to  the  1 5th  of  December.  Recent  improvements 
in  the  internal  arrangements  of  refrigerator-cars 
enable  the  merchant  to  preserve  fruits,  otherwise 
perishable,  so  that  they  can  be  carried  great  dis- 
tances in  as  perfect  condition  as  when  taken  from  the 
30 


450  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

tree,  the  car  remaining  unopened  till  it  arrives  at 
its  destination.  The  cultivation  of  the  orange  has 
within  recent  years  been  gradually  extending  into 
the  middle  and  north-middle  of  the  State  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Sacramento  River,  where  the  orange-tree 
is  found  flourishing  in  hundreds  of  places,  while  the 
fruit  produced  is  claimed  to  be  equal  to  that  of  the 
southern  portion  of  the  State.  The  amount  of  pro- 
duction will,  no  doubt,  continue  to  increase  in  pro- 
portion to  the  demand,  until  the  advantages  of  hav- 
ing fresh  and  wholesome  fruits  can  be  enjoyed  by  all 
the  people,  instead  of  being  limited  so  much  to  the 
locality  where  they  are  grown. 

Minor  Sub-Tropical  Fruits. — To  these  belong  the 
lemon,  citron,  and  the  lime,  of  the  same  general  class  ; 
the  fig,  the  cocoanut,  the  pineapple,  and  the  banana. 
The  lemon  somewhat  resembles  in  color  the  orange, 
but  is  oval  in  shape — its  pulp  is  intensely  acid  ;  the 
citron  is  nearly  the  same  in  character ;  the  lime  is 
smaller,  and  round  in  shape  and  more  acid  than  the 
lemon.  On  the  Atlantic  slope,  Florida  is  the  leading 
State  in  the  production  of  sub-tropical  fruits.  Into 
the  southern  porjtion  have  been  introduced,  from  the 
Bahamas  and  from  Cuba,  the  banana  (though  it  is 
not  equal  in  flavor  to  the  same  fruit  of  the  tropics), 
the  pineapple,  and  the  cocoanut.  Improvements  in 
the  cultivation  of  sub-tropical  fruits  are  now  increas- 
ing in  this  State  from  year  to  year,  the  industry  not 
receiving  hitherto  the  attention  that  its  importance 
demanded,  though  Nature  supplied  a  soil  and  a  cli- 


The  Fig.  451 

mate  as  a  natural  resource  of  great  value  to  the  peo- 
ple if  properly  utilized.  "  The  cultivation  of  cocoa- 
nuts  and  pineapples,  is  becoming  an  important  indus- 
try upon  the  Keys  adjacent  the  Florida  reefs."  The 
former  were  introduced  in  1845,  and  the  latter  in 
1867  by  islanders  from  the  Bahamas,  and  their  cult- 
ure is  gradually  extending  northward  in  the  State. 
"  Though  of  such  easy  and  sure  culture,  no  avail- 
able method  of  curing  the  fig  has  been  introduced." 
Immense  crops  can  be  raised  in  Southern  Georgia 
and  in  Florida,  the  quality  being  as  good  as  that 
imported  from  Smyrna,  but  the  producers  have  yet 
to  learn  how  to  prepare  them  for  market.  (Common- 
wealth of  Georgia,  p.  J<//.)  The  lemon  and  the  citron 
are  found  in  Louisiana,  in  company  with  the  orange, 
and  also  in  California.  In  the  latter  State  is  culti- 
vated the  English  walnut,  and  the  olive-orchards  are 
large  and  bear  fruit  of  fine  quality — "plump,  juicy, 
and  full  of  flavor,"  equal  to  those  of  France  or  Spain 
—and  the  oil  produced  is  of  the  best  quality  and  un- 
adulterated ;  and  here  are,  also,  cultivated  hard  and 
soft  shell  almonds. 


XLIII. 

THE   GRAPE — THE  GARDEN  FRUITS. 

THE  grape  is  indigenous  to  the  United  States, 
and,  when  the  English  colonists  came,  the  vine  flour- 
ished in  the  forests — not  so  vigorously  in  the  north- 
ern portion  of  the  present  territory  of  the  Union 
as  in  the  southern.  In  certain  portions  of  the  latter 
region  the  trees  were  festooned  with  vines  loaded 
with  rich  clusters  of  grapes.  Some  of  these  were  of 
indifferent  quality,  and  others  were  rich  and  juicy ; 
the  latter  in  time  were  domesticated  by  the  colonists, 
and  have  been  a  source  of  food  from  that  day  to  this. 
A  remarkable  one  among  these  was  the  "  Catawba, 
of  a  light  claret-color  when  ripe  " ;  used  for  making 
wine,  as  well  as  a  table-fruit.  This  grape  had  its 
home  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  Atlantic  slope. 
In  the  same  region,  but  more  on  the  higher  lands, 
was  the  scuppernong,  a  large  round  grape,  growing 
wild  from  Virginia  to  Florida ;  a  valuable  species, 
similar  to  a  native  grape  of  Greece,  and  now  exten- 
sively cultivated.  West  of  the  Alleghanies,  amid 
others  that  were  much  inferior,  was  the  fox-grape, 
in  form  and  color  similar  to  the  scuppernong,  and 
was  perhaps  of  the  same  species. 


The  Grape-Culture.  453 

The  domestic  grape  is  now  so  universally  culti- 
vated in  every  portion  of  the  Union,  that  there  is  not 
a  State  nor  a  Territory  in  which  it  does  not  more  or 
less  flourish,  though  the  climate  and  soil  of  some  dis- 
tricts are  more  congenial  than  others  to  the  growth 
and  perfection  of  its  delicious  juices.  The  markets 
in  our  cities  testify  to  the  fact,  by  their  exhibitions  of 
grapes,  that  within  the  last  half-century  the  grape 
has  been  improved  by  culture  more,  perhaps,  than 
any  other  of  our  fruits,  not  only  in  the  enormous  in- 
crease of  production,  but  in  a  higher  grade  of  excel- 
lence. 

Great  changes  have  taken  place  in  this  form  of 
industry,  and  sections  of  the  country,  in  which  it 
was  once  thought  the  grape  could  not  be  cultivated 
to  advantage,  now  produce  immense  quantities.  For 
illustration,  we  may  refer  to  the  valley  of  the  Hud- 
son, or  the  lake-region  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
or  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  taking  the  vicinity  of  Cin- 
cinnati as  a  central  position,  from  which  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  grape  not  only  extended  within  that,  but 
in  the  neighboring  States.  In  truth,  our  entire  in- 
dustry of  grape-culture,  though  it  has  thus  far  been 
successfully  prosecuted,  is  in  its  youth,  as,  in  addition 
to  the  vineyards,  in  which  the  raising  of  the  fruit  is 
carried  on  as  a  business,  the  cultivation  of  the  grape 
has  spread  from  farm-house  to  farm-house  all  over 
the  land. 

The  Special  Grape  Belt.— Upon  the  whole,  it 
would  appear  that  the  most  congenial  climate  and 


454  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

soil  in  the  Union,  for  the  cultivation  of  the  perfect 
grape,  is  that  belt  of  territory  including  New  Mexi- 
co, Arizona,  and  Southern  and  Middle  California. 
The  former  two  are  only  partially  developed,  but, 
as  an  earnest  of  the  future,  they  manifest  in  every 
respect  an  unusual  adaptation  for  grape  -  culture. 
"  The  Mesilla  Valley,  in  Southern  New  Mexico,  is 
said  to  produce  a  grape  with  juices  heavier  than 
those  from  the  grapes  of  Madeira  and  Portugal,  as 
the  grapes  remain  on  the  vine  until  they  commence 
to  dry  before  being  pressed ;  and  the  wort  con- 
tains as  much  sugar  as  the  sweetest  of  Malaga. 
When  dried  they  make  a  good  raisin."  (Dr.  Denni- 
son,  Health  Resorts,  p.  75.) 

In  this  vast  region  the  grape  was  introduced 
from  Europe  two  hundred  years  ago,  by  Spanish 
Catholic  priests  or  missionaries,  and  the  immense 
growth  of  the  vines  themselves,  as  seen  to-day, 
and  their  vast  production  of  fruit,  bear  evidence  to 
the  adaptation  of  the  soil  and  the  climate  to  produce 
the  perfect  grape.  As  an  evidence  of  what  may  be 
expected  from  this  climate  and  soil,  there  is,  near 
Santa  Barbara,  a  vine  which  was  planted  by  a  Span- 
ish priest  half  a  century  ago.  The  stem  of  this  vine 
is  more  than  three  feet  in  circumference  ;  it  is  prop- 
erly trained  on  trellis- work — covering  an  area  of 
nearly  5,000  square  feet — and  has  been  known  to 
produce  in  one  year  more  than  five  tons  of  grapes, 
some  of  the  clusters  weighing  from  four  to  five 
pounds ! 


Locations  of  Vineyards.  455 

California  has  made  rapid  and  sure  advances  in 
this  industry ;  she  laid  under  contribution  all  the 
prominent  vineyards  of  Europe  in  order  to  secure 
their  best  varieties,  and  even  has  partially  repaid  the 
benefit  by  sending  back  cuttings  of  the  same,  but  which 
were  much  improved  by  a  sojourn  in  her  genial 
climate.  There  is  no  fruit  so  sensitive  as  the  grape 
in  respect  to  its  surroundings,  be  it  of  climate,  of 
soil,  or  of  location,  and  no  one  that  requires  so  much 
care  in  securing  the  proper  conditions.  The  latter 
being  known,  the  way  is  open  for  the  grape  of  the 
United  States  to  improve  from  year  to  year  in  good 
qualities,  and  in  an  enlarged  production,  that  will 
supply  the  demand  of  an  ever-increasing  population. 

Locations  of  Vineyards. — In  the  northern  portion 
of  the  Atlantic  slope,  New  York  takes  precedence  in 
having  vineyards ;  in  the  southern,  Georgia.  The 
latter  has  thirty-three  varieties  of  the  grape,  and  it  is 
the  only  State  in  that  region  that  has  vineyards  to 
any  extent.  "  From  her  mountains  to  the  sea-coast 
line  the  scuppernong  is  brought  to  perfection.  It 
makes  several  distinct  types  of  wine,  all  highly  per- 
fumed and  of  delicious  bouquet,  and  a  brandy  of  un- 
equaled  excellence."  (Commonwealth  of  Georgia,  p. 
Up.)  In  the  Great  Valley,  the  State  of  Ohio  has 
precedence  in  the  number  of  her  vineyards  ;  how  long 
she  is  to  maintain  that  pre-eminence  remains  to  be 
seen. 

California  exceeds  any  of  the  other  States  in  the 
number  of  her  vineyards  and  in  general  grape-cult- 


45  6  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

ure.  Experience  has  taught  her  grape-culturists 
many  useful  lessons  that  will  enable  them  to  succeed 
better  in  the  future.  Experiments  are  being  made 
that  will  no  doubt  result  in  still  greater  progress. 
This  State  has  more  than  250  varieties  of  grapes; 
these  are  the  outgrowth  of  the  numerous  cuttings 
or  specimens  of  vines  that  have  been  brought  from 
every  grape-growing  region  in  Europe.  When 
these  were  placed  under  different  influences,  of  both 
climate  and  soil,  the  sensitive  grapes  became  modi- 
fied, often  in  their  color,  as  well  as  in  their  juices  and 
general  characteristics.  This  great  number  of  varie- 
ties would  seem  improbable  were  it  not  established 
by  fact,  but  only  those  that  have  been  tested  and 
proved  to  be  choice  are  cultivated.  Those  only  that 
are  specially  fitted  for  table-use  find  their  way  in 
refrigerator-cars  to  the  distant  cities,  and  thus  mill- 
ions can  enjoy  the  benefit  of  this  delicious  and 
wholesome  fruit. 

Raisins. — Large  quantities  of  the  best  grapes  are 
prepared  for  market  in  the  form  of  raisins.  The 
process  of  raisin-making  demands  extreme  care,  and 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  it  is  difficult  to  attain ;  and 
the  impulsive  Californian  was  long  in  acquiring  the 
requisite  patience  and  experience.  There  are  sev- 
eral conditions  of  the  grape  that  must  be  consid- 
ered— the  period  when  its  juices  are  in  the  right 
state  to  develop  into  the  perfect  raisin,  neither  too 
dry  nor  too  moist,  but  just  right — in  order  to  pre- 
serve its  original  flavor.  This  industry  at  present 


Wines. — Small  Fruits.  457 

consumes  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  State's 
grape-crop.  In  1885,  400,000  boxes  of  raisins  found 
their  way  to  consumers  outside ;  but  the  indications 
are  that  the  number  of  boxes  thus  prepared  will 
speedily  reach  many  millions,  as  the  industry  is 
scarcely  introduced  to  any  large  extent. 

Wines. — The  much  greater  amount  of  grapes 
raised  in  California  is  used  in  wine-making.  To 
produce  wines  similar  to  those  made  in  Europe, 
seedlings  or  cuttings  of  vines  producing  the  same 
kinds  of  grapes  are  imported,  and  in  the  same  man- 
ner for  the  manufacture  of  brandy.  It  is  claimed 
that  California  has  extensive  districts  wherein  grapes 
are  cultivated  which  contain  within  their  limits  simi- 
lar, if  not  more  genial  climatic  characteristics  than 
obtain  in  the  grape-producing  countries  of  Europe, 
and  also  qualities  of  soil  similar  to  those  found  in 
these  localities.  (San  Francisco  Chronicle,  January  i, 
1886.) 

It  is  also  claimed  that  the  wines  thus  made  are 
absolutely  pure ;  if  for  no  higher  motive  than  that 
it  is  cheaper,  because  of  the  vast  abundance  of  the 
grapes,  to  make  the  wines  pure  than  to  adulterate 
them.  A  highly  respectable  French  gentleman,  a 
wine-merchant  in  the  city  of  New  York,  said  to  the 
author,  in  speaking  of  the  wines  of  California :  "  They 
are  in  the  main  as  good  as  those  of  France,  and  of 
one  thing  the  buyer  may  be  certain — they  are  pure." 
Thus  far  (1886),  at  least,  this  is  their  reputation. 

Small  Fruits.— These  include  the  garden  produc- 


45  8  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

tions,  such  as  peas,  gooseberries,  currants,  etc.,  and 
berries  of  every  description,  many  of  which  grow 
spontaneously  in  the  woods  and  native  meadows, 
and  some  on  comparatively  barren  soils,  as  the 
whortle  or  huckleberry  and  the  blueberry,  while 
the  cranberry  flourishes  in  marshy  districts,  where 
it  has  been  partially  cultivated  ;  but  the  most  impor- 
tant of  all,  the  strawberry,  that  prince  among  berries, 
when  in  a  wild  state,  is  found  only  on  fertile  soils 
amid  the  luxuriant  grass.  If  we  were  deprived  of 
these  small  fruits  for  a  season,  on  their  being  re- 
stored, their  worth  would  be  appreciated  more  than 
ever.  The  value  of  these  fruits  is  in  their  imparting 
a  wholesome  stimulant  to  the  system,  an  enjoyment, 
as  well  as  a  promoter  of  health. 

Berries  for  Birds  of  Passage. — Many  species  of 
these  wild  berries  indirectly  confer  great  benefits 
upon  the  people  in  ways  not  generally  known.  For 
illustration,  there  are  almost  unlimited  quantities  of 
a  species  of  cranberry  and  of  strawberry  that  flour- 
ish in  their  season  in  Alaska,  and  their  vines  cover 
many  hundreds  of  square  miles  on  the  shores  and 
marshes  adjacent  to  the  Yukon  River.  There  in  the 
summer-time,  for  three  or  more  months,  these  berries 
alone  furnish  food  to  immense  multitudes  of  wild 
ducks — the  famed  canvas-back  and  others — and  wild 
geese  that,  guided  by  instinct,  come  there  to  the  far 
north,  from  their  southern  places  of  resort  on  the 
bays  and  inlets  along  the  Atlantic  and  the  Gulf, 
from  Delaware  Bay,  round  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 


Northern  Wild  Berries.  459 

Grande.  They  come  thither  to  lay  their  eggs  in 
nests  amid  the  sedges  that  extend  for  hundreds  of 
miles  along  the  shores  of  that  river,  and  to  hatch  and 
rear  their  young.  When  the  latter  are  grown  suffi- 
ciently large  to  fly,  the  parent  birds  lead  them  to 
the  bays  and  inlets  just  mentioned,  to  become  a 
prey  to  the  wiles  of  the  sportsman  and  the  hunt- 
er, and  to  furnish  during  the  winter  the  markets 
with  delicacies  for  the  table.  In  addition  to  the 
numerous  wild  berries  found  on  the  Yukon  River, 
and  which  appear  to  have  been  provided  for  a 
special  purpose,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the 
more  southern  portion  of  this  Territory  also  pro- 
duces spontaneously,  in  their  season,  delicious  wild 
berries  of  many  kinds  and  in  very  great  profu- 
sion. 

Northern  Wild  Berries. — In  the  northern  portion 
of  the  Union  the  wild  small  fruits  are  indigenous  to 
the  soil,  and  grow  very  vigorously  in  the  thin  woods 
and  in  their  open  spaces.  The  wild  blackberry  and 
the  raspberry — white,  red,  and  black — are  found  in 
great  abundance  in  the  middle  and  north  middle  part 
of  the  United  States,  extending  in  a  belt  entirely 
across  the  continent.  They  afford  a  large  amount  of 
table  relish  and  food  for  the  people,  and  sustenance 
for  the  winged  game  of  the  woods,  and  thus  indi- 
rectly benefit  the  people,  as  this  game  is  often  se- 
cured for  food.  The  small  wild  fruits  of  the  south- 
ern portion  are  not  so  vigorous  in  growth.  The 
wild  blackberry,  the  raspberry,  and  the  strawberry 


460  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

have  been  domesticated,  and  thus  their  usefulness 
has  been  increased  many  fold. 

The  Lawton  Blackberry.  —  A  gentleman  near 
New  Rochelle,  New  York,  noticed,  in  a  secluded 
part  of  his  farm,  a  single  blackberry-bush,  having  a 
large  berry,  which  had  a  peculiarly  pleasant  taste  and 
fine  flavor.  He  transplanted  the  bush  to  his  garden, 
where  it  flourished  finely  and  produced  an  excel- 
lent fruit  and  in  abundance.  From  this  plant  was 
propagated  the  Lawton  blackberry  —  thus  named 
from  the  gentleman  who  recognized  its  good  prop- 
erties and  made  it  available  for  popular  use.  A 
similar  instance  occurred  in  Pennsylvania,  in  which 
an  extra-fine  specimen  of  the  black  raspberry,  in- 
digenous to  that  State,  was  thus  utilized  and  propa- 
gated. The  wild  red  raspberry  prevails  more  than 
any  other  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  country. 

The  Strawberry. — No  one  of  these,  however,  com- 
pares with  the  strawberry  in  its  aromatic  flavor  nor 
in  its  pleasant  and  mild  acid  taste.  This  plant  wel- 
comes the  sun  and  blooms  at  the  opening  of  spring 
in  Middle  Florida,  where  the  fruit  ripens  in  April ; 
but,  still  responding  to  the  warmth  of  the  sun  as  he 
moves  northward,  it  continues  to  bloom  and  bear 
till  toward  the  first  of  August,  when  its  berries 
disappear  from  the  woods  and  gardens  of  Canada. 
This  plant,  having  been  for  a  long  time  domesticated, 
has  afforded  in  its  season  the  best  small  fruit  known 
to  American  tables.  The  varieties  of  the  strawberry 
are  numerous  and  increasing  in  number,  and  their 


The  Melon.  461 

good  qualities  are  retained,  as,  after  being  tested,  the 
best  are  selected  for  cultivation.  Some  of  these 
grades  may  be  slightly  more  fragrant  and  luscious 
than  others,  but  the  latter  often  compensate  by  be- 
ing hardier  and  in  being  more  prolific.  Fast  rail- 
way-trains bring  strawberries  from  Florida  in  April 
to  the  main  markets  in  the  cities  on  the  Atlantic 
slope,  while  toward  the  last  of  July  they  are 
brought  from  Northern  New  York  and  Canada. 
The  time  was  when  one  month  covered  the  fruit  sea- 
son in  the  city  of  New  York ;  now  the  railways  ex- 
tend it  to  nearly  three  months.  This  may  be  said  of 
all  these  fruits,  wild  or  cultivated.  Meanwhile  the 
refrigerator-car  from  distant  California  distributes  in 
their  season  the  admirable  fruits  of  that  State  in 
the  cities  of  the  Great  Valley,  and  often  in  those 
east  of  the  Alleghanies. 

The  Melon. — Melons  of  both  kinds  migrated  dur- 
ing the  ages  from  India  to  the  Levant ;  thence  to 
Europe,  and  thence  to  America.  There  are  two  gen- 
eral classes — the  water-  and  the  musk-melon  ;  the 
latter  thus  named  because  its  fragrance  is  similar  to 
that  of  musk.  Of  these  two  classes  are  numerous 
varieties,  all  of  which,  under  the  hands  of  the  skillful 
gardener,  are  susceptible  of  future  improvement  in 
size  and  flavor.  This  delicious  and  refreshing  fruit 
in  both  kinds  is  cultivated  throughout  the  Union 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  wherever  the  climate  permits  ; 
the  latter  fails  only  in  the  extreme  northern  portion 
to  cherish  their  growth.  On  the  Atlantic  slope, 


462  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

Georgia  is  the  most  prominent  State  in  producing 
the  water-melon,  while  New  Jersey — the  Garden 
State— cultivates  both  classes,  but  is  deemed  the  first 
in  respect  to  the  musk-melon.  Other  States,  as 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Delaware,  also  aid  in  fur- 
nishing the  markets  along  the  Atlantic  coast. 

The  Results  of  Rapid  Trains. — Somewhat  in- 
land, but  all  along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Florida 
to  New  York,  abound  gardens  that  produce  early 
vegetables  and  small  fruits.  The  remarkably  genial 
climate  and  fertile  soil  in  the  more  southern  end  of 
this  belt  aid  much  in  supplying  these  wants  of  the 
people  farther  north.  Norfolk,  in  Virginia,  owing 
to  its  central  location  near  the  coast,  and  also  to  hav- 
ing outlets,  both  by  steamship  and  railway,  has  be- 
come the  main  depot  for  the  small  fruits  and  early 
vegetables  grown  in  Virginia  and  Maryland,  and 
also  for  those  raised  farther  south,  in  the  Carolinas 
and  Georgia,  which  are  thence  carried  for  distribu- 
tion in  the  Northern  cities.  These  advantages  of 
climate  and  soil,  thus  connected  with  rapid  com- 
munication, make  this  resource  of  immense  value 
and  of  ever-increasing  importance  to  the  people. 
The  upper  portions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  can  be 
more  or  less  supplied  with  small  fruits  and  early 
productions  of  the  garden  from  Louisiana  and  Cali- 
fornia. 

Fruits  can  be  improved. — What  a  wonderful 
economy  the  All-wise  Creator  has  instituted,  in  which 
fruits  of  nearly  every  kind  can  be  improved  by 


Improvement  of  Fruits.  463 

proper  cultivation  !  This  (shall  we  not  say  divine  ?) 
law  of  Nature  opens  a  wide  field  for  success  in  culti- 
vated fruits.  The  United  States,  in  consequence  of 
their  extensive  territory  and  varied  climate,  are  pe- 
culiarly blessed  in  their  fruits,  great  and  small ; 
while,  still  more,  the  improvement  by  culture  of 
these  fruits  has  a  bright  future. 

The  seeds  of  orchard-fruits  never  produce  one 
precisely  like  the  original  from  which  the  seed  is 
taken,  but  instead  a  different  variety.  The  latter 
may  be  inferior  in  quality  to  the  original,  or  it  may 
be  superior,  but  neither  is  known  till  the  fruit  of  the 
tree  produced  from  the  seed  is  tested ;  and  if  it  is  in- 
ferior, the  tree  is  thrown  aside  as  useless  ;  but  if 
worthy  of  preserving,  its  variety  is  propagated  by 
cuttings  or  grafts.  This  process  requires  time  and 
care,  and  the  judicious .  nurseryman  is  always  on  the 
lookout  for  these  superior  specimens,  be  they  of  ap- 
ples, peaches,  plums,  pears,  apricots,  oranges,  etc. 
The  same  principle  prevails  in  improving  the  differ- 
ent varieties  of  the  small  fruits  and  all  classes  of  ber- 
ries. The  latter  are  propagated  by  roots  or  fibers, 
not  by  the  seeds.  For  instance,  the  strawberry-seed  is 
properly  planted  and  carefully  watched.  The  new 
plant  is  transplanted,  and  the  fruit  it  bears  noticed  : 
if  it  is  inferior,  the  plant  is  destroyed  ;  and  if  supe- 
rior, it  is  preserved  carefully  and  propagated  by  the 
roots  or  fibers.  The  variety  of  fruit  thus  produced 

retains  the  same  flavor  and  characteristics,  and,  if  ex- 

• 

cellent,  obtains  a  wide  diffusion. 


XLIV. 

FERTILIZERS. 

IT  is  consistent  with  the  goodness  of  the  Creator 
to  provide  a  variety  of  means  by  which  to  enhance 
the  fruitfulness  of  the  earth,  upon  which  man  chiefly 
depends  for  sustenance.  For  illustration,  when  its 
powers  of  production  have  been  impaired,  they  can 
be  renewed  through  the  medium  of  certain  sub- 
stances that  may  have  been  in  store  for  long  ages. 
Fertilizers  perform  two  offices :  one,  to  supply  the 
soil  with  needed  elements ;  the  other,  to  render  avail- 
able certain  constituents  that  are  already  in  it,  in 
order  that  they  may  be  assimilated  as  plant-food  by 
the  fibers  or  roots.  Chemistry  has  analyzed  the 
several  grains,  and  revealed  the  ingredients  of  which 
they  are  each  composed  ;  and  the  soil  that  is  defi- 
cient in  an  element  which  is  essential  to  the  perfec- 
tion of  any  one  class  of  grain  will  produce  a  defect- 
ive kernel  of  that  class.  The  intelligent  and  prac- 
tical farmer  or  planter  endeavors  to  supply  the  defi- 
ciencies of  the  soil  he  cultivates  with  fertilizers  con- 
taining the  appropriate  elements,  in  order  to  produce 
the  perfect  kernel  of  the  grain  he  wishes  to  harvest, 


MarL — Animal  Remains.  465 

the  finest  fiber  of  his  cotton,  or  a  delicate  texture 
of  his  tobacco. 

Marl. — Marl  is  a  deposit  of  sedimentary  and 
mixed  earthy  substance,  consisting  usually  of  the 
carbonate  or  phosphate  of  lime,  mingled  often  with 
clay  and  sand,  and  with  vegetable  and  animal  mat- 
ter. The  former  two,  originally  held  in  solution  by 
the  water  when  in  motion,  were  precipitated  when 
the  latter  was  still,  as  in  shallow  lakes  or  marshes. 
A  belt  of  territory,  with  an  average  width  of  from 
twenty  to  thirty  miles,  containing  a  series  of  large 
but  not  closely  connected  beds  of  marl,  commences 
not  far  inland  from  the  ocean,  in  Southeastern  Vir- 
ginia, and  extends  in  a  southwesterly  direction  and 
parallel  with  the  coast,  across  the  States  of  North 
and  South  Carolina  into  Georgia,  where  in  the  lat- 
ter State,  leaving  the  coast,  but  keeping  the  same 
direction  and  retaining  nearly  the  same  width,  this 
belt  of  marls  continues  across  the  State  of  Georgia, 
reaching  the  Chattahoochee  River  some  distance 
below  Columbus ;  and  thence,  passing  through  por- 
tions of  twenty  counties  in  Alabama,  it  crosses  the 
State  line  into  Mississippi,  directly  west  of  Grove 
Hill  in  the  former  State.  This  is  the  general  out- 
line of  these  singular  deposits. 

Animal  Remains. — These  separate  beds  of  marl 
along  the  coast  contain  animal  remains,  such  as  of 
sea-shells,  the  bones  of  fishes  and  of  sharks,  estimated 
to  have  been  from  forty  to  sixty  feet  in  length,  and 
partially  aquatic  creatures,  such  as  the  tapir,  the  seal, 


466  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

the  walrus,  and  dugong,  or  sea-cow,  and  also  of  land- 
animals,  such  as  the  deer,  the  mastodon,  or  elephant. 
The  substance  of  the  decomposed  bodies  of  these 
animals  had  influence  in  determining  the  character 
of  the  marl.  These  classes  of  remains  are  found 
especially  in  the  marls  of  the  Carolinas,  where  the 
water  was  no  doubt  saltish  and  attracted  land-ani- 
mals. In  Georgia  and  Alabama  the  "  shell-marl " 
predominates,  there  being  in  it  no  remains  of  land- 
animals,  but  "  the  shells  or  secretions  of  marine  creat- 
ures." Marls  have  often  characteristics  slightly  dif- 
ferent, and  these  are  designated  by  appropriate 
names — as  greensand,  shell-marl,  and  blue-marl;  in 
South  Carolina  are  two  extensive  groups  named 
from  the  rivers  that  run  across  them — the  Santee 
and  the  Ashley-Cooper.  It  is  remarkable  that,  in 
sinking  artesian  wells  in  the  South  Carolina  districts, 
marls  and  animal  remains  have  been  found  700  feet 
below  the  surface. 

The  Extent  of  Marl  Area. — North  Carolina  has 
about  12,000  square  miles  of  marl  territory — that  is, 
where  it  is  found  ;  this  includes  portions  of  twenty- 
five  counties  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  that 
lie  along  the  coast  and  extend  from  thirty  to  sixty 
miles  inland.  The  marl  in  this  State  lies  in  horizon- 
tal layers,  and  frequently  crops  out  on  the  sides  of 
ravines  or  gullies  and  river-banks,  in  connection 
with  an  impure  limestone,  from  two  to  four  feet  in 
thickness.  The  most  efficient  fertilizing  agent  in 
these  marls  is  the  lime  they  contain,  which  often 


Phosphate-Rock.  467 

varies  in  amount,  running  from  10  up  to  95  per 
cent. 

South  Carolina  has  also  a  large  area  of  marl,  over 
a  portion  of  which  lies  the  phosphate-rock — to  be 
noticed  presently.  In  Georgia  a  belt  of  isolated 
"  shell-marl "  beds  extends  from  the  Savannah  River, 
commencing  a  short  distance  below  Augusta,  in  a 
southwest  direction  across  the  entire  State  and 
through  portions  of  eighteen  counties,  to  the  Chatta- 
hoochee,  and,  crossing  that  river  below  the  city  of 
Columbus,  the  belt  continues  across  Alabama,  and 
over  the  State  line  into  Mississippi,  directly  west  of 
the  village  of  Grove  Hill  in  the  former  State.  The 
area  of  marl  in  Georgia  and  Alabama  combined  is 
about  1,200  square  miles,  of  which  550  belong  to  the 
latter,  a  portion  of  which  has  also  phosphatic  rocks. 
(Georgia  Commonwealth,  Handbooks  of  North  and  South 
Carolina,  and  Description  of  Alabama,  article  Marl.} 

Phosphate-Rock. — Beds  of  marl  had  been  long 
known  to  exist  in  the  region  around  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  and  it  had  been  used  in  a  primitive 
way  as  a  fertilizer  for  nearly  half  a  century.  These 
layers  of  marl,  however,  were  in  many  instances 
overlaid  by  a  stratum  of  rock,  that  had  the  appear- 
ance of  ordinary  limestone ;  and,  in  obtaining  the  marl, 
this  rock,  being  in  the  way,  was  thrown  aside  as  use- 
less. In  1867  the  attention  of  Dr.  St.  Julien  Kave- 
nal  was  drawn  to  this  layer  of  rock,  "  marl-stones," 
which  was  unique  in  form,  inasmuch  as  "  it  is  in 
masses  or  nodules,  varying  from  the  size  of  a  potato 


468  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

to  several  feet  in  diameter."  The  rounded  shape 
was  evidently  "  caused  by  the  action  of  waves  and 
currents  "  in  the  geological  past.  Dr.  Kavenal  ana- 
lyzed these  rounded  stones,  and  discovered  that 
they  contained  phosphate  of  lime  from  55  to  60 
per  cent.  Then  followed  discoveries  of  the  rock  in 
other  localities,  and  the  fact  was  also  noticed  that 
the  rivers  in  the  vicinity  flowed  over  beds  paved  by 
this  singular  rock,  "  in  a  layer  or  sheet  of  cemented 
or  tightly  compacted  nodules."  Thus  far  it  has  been 
ascertained  that,  in  South  Carolina,  an  area  under- 
laid with  phosphate-rock,  extends  "  seventy  miles  in 
length  parallel  to  the  coast,  and  with  a  maximum 
width  of  thirty  miles."  This  phosphate-rock  is 
deemed  of  immense  value  to  the  State  and  wherever 
the  fertilizers  derived  from  it  are  used.  Phosphor- 
us is  an  important  factor  in  increasing  the  produc- 
tiveness of  the  soil,  and  any  substance  that  yields  it 
becomes  a  fertilizer. 

Almost  immediately  after  Dr.  Kavenal's  discov- 
ery, measures  were  taken  to  utilize  this  phosphate- 
rock ;  experiments  were  made  and  factories  estab- 
lished to  prepare  it  by  crushing  and  other  processes. 
Immense  amounts  of  the  rock  are  thus  put  in  form 
to  be  used  by  agriculturists,  and  are  sent  in  every 
direction  to  enrich  cultivated  fields  and  gardens. 
The  land-rock  over  the  marl  is  mined,  and  the  rivers 
are  dredged  and  deprived  of  their  bottoms  of  "  ce- 
mented rocks  "  ;  from  the  latter  the  State  derives  a 
revenue.  We  can  not  go  into  detail,  but  we  may  say 


Other  Phosphates.  469 

that  in  1884  there  were  in  South  Carolina  alone 
more  than  forty  companies,  great  and  small,  engaged 
in  the  work  of  preparing  fertilizers  from  phosphate- 
rock,  and  that  the  latter  is  practically  inexhaustible. 
(Handbook  of  South  Carolina,  Mineral  Resources  of 
United  States,  1882,  and  1883-188^ 

North  Carolina  Phosphates. — In  connection  with 
the  large  area  of  marl  deposits  in  this  State  have 
•recently  (1884)  been  discovered,  by  special  survey, 
nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  beds  of  phosphate 
rocks  or  nodules.  The  series  of  these  as  yet  unde- 
veloped deposits  is  in  a  belt  of  territory,  fifteen  to 
twenty  miles  wide,  that  extends  from  the  Neuse 
River  to  the  State  line  of  South  Carolina.  This 
belt  runs  parallel  with  the  coast,  and  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  miles  inland,  covering  as  far  as  known 
portions  of  eight  counties. 

Florida  Phosphates. — This  State  has  large  depos- 
its of  marl,  but  as  yet  little  utilized,  and  in  addition 
phosphate-rock  in  great  abundance.  It  has  been 
found  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State  and  in 
portions  of  four  counties ;  deposits  of  the  same  rock 
are  numerous  in  the  central  part,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Gainesville.  In  places  these  beds  are  from  six  to 
eight  feet  in  thickness.  (Mineral  Resources  of  the 
United  States,  1883-1884.,  pp.  j88,  793.) 

Maryland  and  Delaware  Marl.— The  former  of 
these  States  has  marl  of  the  greensand  variety  in 
localities  quite  widely  apart ;  having  no  commercial 
value,  its  use  is  confined  to  the  neighborhood  in 


470  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

which  it  is  found.  Delaware  has  also  marl  of  the 
same  kind  in  isolated  and  small  beds,  and  is  subject 
to  the  same  conditions  as  to  its  use. 

New  Jersey  Marl. — This  State  has  vast  deposits 
of  greensand-marl,  which  occurs  in  beds  or  layers 
in  a  belt  of  territory  running  southwest  from  Rari- 
tan  Bay  to  the  Delaware  River,  about  ninety  miles 
in  length,  and  an  average  width  of  perhaps  eight. 
This  fertilizer  has  been  found  adapted  more  or  less 
for  all  crops  grown  in  the  State  ;  it  is  used  for  ordi- 
nary products,  for  garden  vegetables,  fruit-trees,  and 
vines  of  all  classes — for  grass-lands  as  well  as  for 
cereals.  In  some  places  it  is  dug  by  dredging-ma- 
chines  driven  by  steam,  which,  scooping  it  up  very 
rapidly,  drop  it  into  the  cars  to  be  transported  where 
needed.  Marl  is  found  in  very  limited  quantities 
and  in  widely  separated  localities  north  of  New  Jer- 
sey, such  as  in  small  marshes  that  may  supply  local 
wants. 

GYPSUM. 

Lime  under  three  forms  is  used  as  a  fertilizer: 
The  first,  and  by  far  the  most  extensive  in  its  univer- 
sality, is  the  lime  derived  from  the  common  lime- 
stone by  burning.  This  process  is  very  simple,  and  the 
farmers  under  ordinary  circumstances  can  prepare 
it  themselves.  The  second  form  is  phosphate  rock, 
which  is  ground  to  powder,  and,  without  being 
burned,  applied  to  the  soil.  The  third  form  is  gyp- 
sum, the  sulphate — sulphuric  acid  and  lime — which, 
in  being  prepared  for  fertilizing  purposes,  is  not 


Alabaster.  471 

burned,  but  ground  fine.  It  may  be  mentioned  that 
gypsum  is  sometimes  a  valuable  building-stone,  and 
that  when  it  is  burned  it  produces  plaster-of- Paris— 
thus  named  from  the  city  where  it  was  first  made. 
This  form  is  known  commercially  as  stucco,  it  being 
used  in  stucco-work  in  houses,  as  in  cornices,  and 
numberless  forms  of  ornamentation.  It  has  the  pe- 
culiar property  that,  when  moist  and  soft  and 
correctly  prepared,  of  setting,  or  becoming  fixed  in 
form  within  a  few  moments,  when  pressed  into 
molds ;  hence  the  facility,  for  illustration,  with  which 
portions  of  cornices,  etc.,  can  be  made  alike  and  after- 
ward easily  joined  together  by  the  workman.  This 
property  of  "  setting  "  in  plaster-of-Paris  leads  to  its 
application  in  numberless  instances  ;  but  to  enter  upon 
the  detail  of  such  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  book. 
The  uniting  of  sulphuric  acid  with  lime  results 
in  a  greater  variety  of  compounds  than  either  that 
of  carbonic  or  phosphoric  acids — those  of  the  two 
latter  being  limited  almost  entirely  to  limestone  and 
phosphate  rock.  Sulphuric  acid  and  the  carbonate 
of  lime,  united,  produce  several  grades  of  gypsum, 
from  the  ordinary  building-stone,  of  different  degrees 
of  hardness  and  durability,  to  alabaster  of  so  fine  a 
texture  that  from  it  are  carved  vases  and  mantel  or- 
naments, etc.  Alabaster  is  susceptible  of  a  fine  pol- 
ish, and  occurs  in  various  shades  of  color,  sometimes 
exceedingly  white  and  translucent,  and  often  yellow, 
red,  or  gray,  and  also  "  in  transparent  crystals  or  in 
crystalline  masses,"  known  in  geology  as  selenite. 


472  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

Gypsum ;  where  found. — Gypsum  occurs  on  the 
Atlantic  slope,  as  far  as  known,  in  only  two  large  de- 
posits: one,  in  the  central  portion  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  which  extends  at  intervals  through 
the  State  from  Niagara  to  Oneida,  and  is  in  beds  of 
great  thickness — from  it  plaster  for  fertilizing  pur- 
poses is  manufactured  at  a  number  of  localities  along 
the  line  of  deposits  ;  the  other,  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  Virginia,  in  the  valley  of  the  North  Branch 
of  the  Holston  River,  in  the  region  where  the  village 
of  Abingdon  is  situated.  It  is  also  found  in  a  large 
deposit  in  Northeastern  Alabama,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Tennessee,  within  Jackson  County.  In  Southwest- 
ern Louisiana,  when  boring  for  oil  at  a  place  some 
dozen  miles  from  Lake  Charles,  a  bed  of  gypsum, 
one  hundred  and  forty-eight  feet  thick,  was  discov- 
ered ;  and  in  Texas  it  is  reported  to  be  in  store  along 
the  head-waters  of  the  Red  River,  in  the  northwest- 
ern portion  of  the  State.  Arkansas  has  gypsum  in 
large  quantities,  and  in  this  State  are  found  beds  of 
alabaster,  said  to  be  of  most  excellent  quality  and 
exceedingly  white.  Kansas  has  large  deposits  in  the 
central  portion  of  the  State.  Iowa  (page  285)  has 
immense  quarries,  but  used  almost  entirely  for  build- 
ing-stone, though  a  portion  is  made  into  plaster-of- 
Paris  and  for  agricultural  purposes.  Ohio  has  sev- 
eral extensive  beds  of  gypsum  from  which  are  manu- 
factured, at  the  city  of  Sandusky,  large  quantities  of 
plaster-of-Paris. 

Michigan  Gypsum. — This  State  has  very  valuable 


Gypsum  as  a  Fertilizer.  473 

deposits  of  this  rock  on  Grand  River,  near  the  city 
of  Grand  Rapids,  in  the  western  part  of  the  State, 
and,  also,  almost  directly  east  from  the  latter  city  on 
or  near  the  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  a  few  miles  south 
of  Alabaster  Point.  The  indications  are  that  these 
layers  or  beds  of  gypsum  extend  across  the  entire 
State  between  these  two  points.  Some  of  these  beds, 
as  ascertained  by  borings,  are  found  at  various 
depths  ranging  to  seven  hundred  feet  below  the  sur- 
face. Michigan  gypsum,  when  analyzed,  gives  in  the 
main,  sulphuric  acid,  46 ;  lime,  33  ;  and  water  of 
crystallization,  21  percent.  Experiment  shows  that 
these  elements  enter  largely  into  the  composition  of 
all  cereals,  clover,  and  other  grasses  ;  and  into  plants 
and  vegetables,  hence  the  immense  value  to  agri- 
culturists of  the  fertilizers  derived  from  these  beds 
of  gypsum.  In  consequence,  large  establishments 
for  preparing  it  are  located  at  the  quarries  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Grand  Rapids,  while  large  quantities  of  the 
rock  are  sent  into  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  to  be  manu- 
factured ;  and  there  are  also  exported  large  amounts 
from  the  eastern  quarries  on  Lake  Huron  to  factories 
in  other  States  and  to  Canada,  as  the  producers  of 
fertilizers  almost  everywhere  use  more  or  less  of 
prepared  gypsum. 

In  the  quarries  near  Grand  Rapids  are  six  beds  of 
gypsum  lying  one  above  another,  and  over  all  are 
twenty  feet  of  common  earth.  Between  these  beds 
are  interspersed  layers  of  soft  shale,  slate,  and  clay- 
slate,  while  the  beds  of  gypsum  are  in  thickness  re- 


474  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

spectively  eight,  twelve,  six  and  a  half,  eight  and  a 
half,  nine  and  a  half,  and  twelve  and  a  half  feet — in 
the  aggregate  fifty-seven  feet  of  available  rock,  while 
the  entire  depth  of  these  several  layers  of  different 
kinds  is  ninety-eight  feet.  From  these  statements 
the  reader  may  form  a  conception  of  the  vastness  of 
these  deposits,  which  extend  probably  at  the  same 
thickness  across  tb^  State  from  Lake  Michigan  to 
Lake  Huron.  "  Thus  lar  none  but  the  two  upper 
beds  have  been  worked,  and  probably  several  gen- 
erations will  have  succeeded  one  another  before 
the  necessity  shall  arise  for  resorting  to  the  lower 
deposits  for  a  supply  of  gypsum."  (Mineral  Statis- 
tics of  Michigan,  1881,  p.  8.) 

The  Workings. — The  gypsum  is  varied  in  color, 
as  white  and  rose-colored  and  mottled  with  gray. 
The  principal  mine  at  Grand  Rapids  is  opened  by 
three  inclined  shafts,  extending  from  the  base  of  the 
bluff  to  the  bottom  of  the  second  layer  of  rock.  The 
underground  workings  in  1881  comprised  an  area  of 
sixteen  acres,  and  of  course  now  (1887)  much  more. 
The  mine  is  free  from  dampness  and  is  lighted  with 
gas  made  within  its  limits.  The  rock  is  soft  and  eas- 
ily drilled  and  blasted  out  with  gunpowder.  There 
are  in  the  vicinity  of  Grand  Rapids  some  half-dozen 
companies  engaged  in  mining  gypsum  and  preparing 
land-plaster  and  stucco ;  the  amount  of  both  classes 
annually  sent  to  market  is  enormously  great. 

Rocky  Mountain  Gypsum.  —  Large  deposits  of 
gypsum  have  been  discovered  in  Montana,  and 


Pacific  Coast  Gypsum.  475 

around  the  Black  Hills  of  Dakota,  though  in  limited 
quantities ;  but  as  yet  these  have  been  only  partially 
developed,  for  neither  land-plaster  nor  stucco  has 
been  brought  into  general  use  in  that  region.  Utah 
has  also  an  abundance  of  the  mineral,  which  occur- 
ring in  many  localities  has  been  utilized  to  supply 
domestic  wants.  Extensive  beds  of  gypsum  are 
found  in  the  South  and  Middle  Parks  of  Colorado, 
and  along  the  base  of  the  mountains,  running  east 
and  west  in  a  number  of  localities.  At  Colorado 
City  is  an  establishment  for  the  manufacture  of  plas- 
ter-of- Paris. 

New  Mexico  has  immense  deposits  in  Rio  Arriba, 
Socorro,  Grant,  and  other  counties.  In  the  Sandia 
Mountains  the  natives  make  plaster-of-Paris  in  a 
primitive  way,  with  which  they  whiten  the  interior 
of  their  adobe  houses. 

Arizona  has  likewise  an  abundance  of  gypsum, 
and  widely  diffused,  ready  to  supply  wants  when 
needed.  In  Yavapai  County  it  occurs  in  extensive 
beds  of  thin  horizontal  sheets ;  in  Pinal  County  it 
is  found  in  ledges  where  it  is  as  white  as  snow. 

Pacific  Coast  Gypsum. — Nevada  is  well  supplied 
with  deposits  of  gypsum,  which  is  found  in  a  number 
of  localities,  waiting  to  be  utilized.  California  has 
extensive  deposits  of  this  mineral  in  Los  Angeles 
County ;  these  extend  for  twenty  or  more  miles,  and 
the  gypsum  appears  of  good  quality.  That  found  in 
Santa  Barbara  County  is  white  in  color,  and  resem- 
bles the  Nova  Scotia  variety  in  texture.  Gypsum 


476  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

has  also  been  discovered  in  many  places  north  of 
San  Francisco,  in  the  Coast  Range,  and  in  a  number 
of  other  places  within  the  State. 

California  has  also  in  a  number  of  localities  the 
more  delicate  varieties,  as  alabaster,  selenite,  and 
satin-spar.  The  first-named  is  abundant  in  San  Luis 
Obispo  County,  south  of  San  Francisco,  in  the  west 
slope  of  the  Coast  Range,  near  Aroyo  Grande  ; 
selenite  occurs  in  large  slabs  in  Los  Angeles  County, 
and  satin-spar  in  abundance  in  a  number  of  places,  as 
in  Tulare  and  San  Bernardino  Counties. 

The  Importance  of  the  Subject. — It  is  an  inherit- 
ance of  untold  value  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  have  ample  resources  that  enable  them, 
not  only  to  preserve,  but  to  increase  from  year  to 
year,  the  fertility  of  their  soil.  The  American  farm- 
ers, gardeners,  and  planters  expended,  in  1884,  about 
twenty-seven  million  dollars  in  manufactured  fertil- 
izers— an  immense  sum,  but  not  equal  to  the  demand, 
for  to  this  should  be  added  the  much  larger  aggre- 
gated value  of  the  domestic  manures,  which  the 
farmers  themselves  obtained  on  their  own  premises. 
Writers  who  have  made  the  subject  a  study  say  that 
"  comparison  shows  that  only  one  seventeenth  as 
much  is  returned  to  American  soil,  in  proportion  to 
the  crops  harvested,  as  in  Germany,"  though  the 
motto  of  every  farmer  ought  to  be  "  to  return  to  the 
soil,  each  season,  as  much  plant-food  as  the  previous 
crop  carried  away." 

Aided  by  the  science  of  chemistry,  the  manufact- 


Materials  utilized.  477 

urers  of  fertilizers  are  now  able  to  use  to  advantage 
numberless  substances  that  were  once  thrown  aside 
as  waste.  At  one  time,  bones  of  animals  were 
sought,  as  the  most  prolific  source  of  phosphorus, 
but  now  our  immense  deposits  of  phosphate  rock  on 
the  South  Atlantic  slope  supply  all  demands,  and  are 
also  fast  superseding  the  fertilizing  material  im- 
ported from  Peru  and  the  Pacific  isles ;  in  truth,  we 
virtually  import  only  one  such  material — potassium 
— from  Germany  ;  "  the  crude  mineral,  as  obtained 
from  the  mines,  is  shipped  for  use  as  an  ingredient  in 
fertilizers."  On  the  contrary,  we  are  now  exporting, 
as  about  75  per  cent  of  the  phosphate  rock,  mined 
in  the  vicinity  of  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  is  taken 
principally  to  England  and  Germany,  while  to  the 
same  countries  is  exported  a  very  small  proportion 
of  that  mined  near  Charleston.  Thus  we  see  that 
the  numerous  establishments  throughout  the  Union 
for  preparing  fertilizers  virtually  derive  their  materi- 
als from  our  own  resources. 


XLV. 

OCEAN-RESOURCES. 

THE  United  States  are  peculiarly  rich  in  the 
available  food-resources  of  the  ocean,  they  being 
within  a  convenient  distance.  In  addition,  the 
Americans  have  the  right,  by  the  law  of  nations,  to 
fish  outside  three  miles  of  the  shore  in  the  waters 
around  Nova  Scotia,  Newfoundland,  and  Prince 
Edward  Island ;  they  have  also,  by  treaty  arrange- 
ment, the  privilege  of  preserving  or  curing  their  fish 
on  the  shores  of  the  same.  Along  the  coast  of  the 
United  States  the  ocean  teems  with  fish,  more  or  less 
at  all  seasons ;  and,  at  special  times,  certain  classes 
swarm  in  these  waters  and  are  caught  in  immense 
numbers.  About  130  miles  southeast  of  Gloucester, 
Massachusetts,  the  great  fishing-port  of  the  Union, 
are  the  St.  George's  Shoals,  where  congregate  at 
certain  seasons  multitudes  of  cod,  to  feed  on  the  sea- 
weed or  ocean-grass,  as  they  do  on  the  Banks  of 
Newfoundland,  the  most  celebrated  and  extensive 
fishing-grounds  in  the  world.  The  cod  is  a  rover  in 
the  ocean,  somewhat  like  the  buffalo  on  land  :  the 
one  comes  from  the  great  depths  at  certain  seasons 


Discovery  of  the  Cod.  479 

to  feed  on  the  banks  or  shoals ;  the  other  at  certain 
times  to  their  pasturage  in  choice  places  on  the 
plains. 

Our  Ocean  Fishing  Area. — Our  own  ocean  fish- 
ing area  commences  off  Eastern  Maine,  and,  taking  in 
the  bays  and  sounds  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  sweeps 
round  Florida  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  along 
the  north  shore  of  the  latter  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  A  similar  area  commences  on  the  Pacific 
at  San  Diego,  and  passing  up  the  coast  includes  the 
remarkable  fishing-grounds  of  Columbia  River,  and 
still  farther  north  those  of  Puget  Sound,  the  Strait 
of  Fuca,  and  thence  to  Alaska,  whose  southeastern 
and  southern  shores  for  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
teem  with  fish  in  unsurpassed  numbers  and  of  the 
best  quality ;  thence  round  the  Aleutian  Isles  into 
Behring  Sea,  where  are  found  the  fur-bearing  seals 
at  the  Pribyloff  Islands,  and  the  salmon  of  the  Yu- 
kon. This  is  only  a  brief  outline  of  one  of  Nature's 
store-houses  of  food  for  the  people  at  large,  and  all 
easily  available  for  successful  prosecution  by  our 
noble,  hardy,  and  daring  fishermen.  About  thirteen 
hundred  species  of  fish  are  known  to  exist  in  North 
America,  nearly  all  of  which  are  found  in  the  waters 
in  and  around  the  United  States. 

Discovery  of  the  Cod. — The  early  navigators  and 
explorers,  both  French  and  English,  noticed  the  im- 
mense numbers  of  codfish  that  frequented  the  Banks 
of  Newfoundland  and  the  adjacent  waters,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  the  world  has  drawn  largely  upon 


480  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

these  banks  for  supplies  of  food  in  the  form  of  fish. 
It  would  seem  that  at  the  present  time  Americans 
capture  a  greater  number  of  cod  in  these  waters 
than  do  others ;  the  quantity  taken  is  enormous,  and 
in  a  salted  or  cured  form  these  fish,  in  part,  furnish 
food  for  the  people  of  the  Union,  besides  the  amount 
sent  to  Europe  and  elsewhere.  The  city  of  Glou- 
cester sends  out  ships  annually  in  different  direc- 
tions— to  the  Banks,  to  St.  George's  Shoals  (of  which 
the  Americans  have  almost  the  monopoly),  and  along 
the  northern  coast — more  than  500  fishing-vessels. 
At  one  season  they  go  for  cod ;  at  another,  fish  in 
deep  waters  for  halibut ;  at  another,  nearer  the  sur- 
face for  herring  and  mackerel.  The  latter  is  a  ca- 
pricious fish ;  its  habits  are  almost  unknown  to  the 
most  experienced  fishermen.  They  will  suddenly 
disappear  from  one  point,  and  as  suddenly  appear  at 
another ;  they  are  sometimes  seen,  in  countless  thou- 
sands, swimming  near  the  surface  of  the  water,  but 
they  may,  as  quick  as  a  flash,  dive  down  and  be 
seen  no  more.  Their  ever-watchful  enemies,  the 
fishermen,  cautiously  approach,  and,  before  they 
dive,  throw  out  their  nets  and  speedily  draw  them 
around  the  shoal,  closing  the  nets  underneath  so  as 
to  scoop  up  the  fish. 

Utility  of  Ice. — In  this  connection  it  is  fitting  to 
notice  the  very  great  advantages  the  American  peo- 
ple derive  from  the  application  of  ice  in  preserving 
ocean  food-fish  in  such  manner  that  they  can  be  sent 
in  steamers  along  the  coast,  or  on  railways  hundreds 


Utility  of  Ice.  481 

of  miles  inland  to  supply  the  daily  markets  in  the 
cities,  the  fish  meanwhile  remaining  fresh  and  whole- 
some. The  same  precautions  are  used  in  transport- 
ing the  large  numbers  of  fish  caught  in  the  Great 
Lakes.  This  ice-resource  is  becoming  more  and 
more  appreciated  and  utilized  in  furnishing  fresh  food 
of  various  kinds,  such  as  fish  and  meats,  mutton,  beef, 
etc.,  sent  in  refrigerator-cars,  many  hundreds  of  miles 
from  the  pasture-lands  of  the  interior  to  the  Eastern 
and  other  cities.  In  these  cars,  by  means  of  a  pecul- 
iar process,  the  cold  air  is  made  dry ;  and  the  moist- 
ure, that  arises  from  the  partially  melting  ice,  and 
which  is  so  injurious  to  the  meat,  is  neutralized,  so 
that  the  latter  is  preserved  fresh  and  in  an  un- 
changed condition.  This  application  of  ice,  in  con- 
nection writh  the  power  of  steam,  greatly  enhances 
the  value  of  our  varied  food-supplies,  including  fruits 
as  well  as  meats,  and  from  the  necessity  of  the  case 
its  application  in  this  respect  will  be  increased  indefi- 
nitely in  the  future. 

The  Different  Fishing  Localities. — Deep  or  ocean 
fishing  is  carried  on  almost  entirely  by  the  greater 
portion  of  the  New  England  fishermen,  while  some 
also  prosecute  the  in-shore  fisheries  along  the  coast. 
The  deep-ocean  fish  of  the  North  are  deemed  richer 
in  flavor  and  general  excellence  than  those  of  the 
South  Atlantic ;  the  latter  are  more  migratory  in 
their  habits.  In  the  bays  and  sounds,  and  near  the 
shore  along  the  Northern  coast,  some  classes  of  fish, 
as  the  tautog,  the  black-fish,  the  sea-bass,  etc.,  re- 
32 


482  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

main  the  year  through,  while  in  the  spring  and  early 
summer  come  the  migratory  shad  and  salmon,  to  run 
up  the  rivers  that  are  accessible  to  the  ocean — the 
salmon  of  to-day  only  in  those  of  Maine  and  Nova 
Scotia,  and  the  shad  in  the  remainder.  During  the 
summer  months,  in  addition  to  the  usual  fish  along 
the  coast  north  of  Delaware  Bay,  come  the  blue-fish 
and  the  Spanish  mackerel — both  so  desirable  for  the 
table.  The  latter  is  deemed  a  delicacy  :  and,  though 
of  southern  origin,  it  appears  to  be  gradually  chang- 
ing its  habitat  toward  the  north :  this  movement  has 
been  noticed  and  recorded  by  naturalists.  To  sup- 
ply these  various  fish  for  the  markets  of  the  cities 
near  the  ocean,  and  also  for  those  farther  inland,  re- 
quires the  labor  of  large  numbers  of  fishermen,  who, 
in  prosecuting  their  occupation,  move  from  station 
to  station  as  the  fish  appear  off-shore. 

The  Shad. — The  shad  is  the  most  important  of 
the  fishes  that  ascend  our  Eastern  rivers  to  spawn. 
During  the  season,  which  commences  in  early  spring 
in  the  South  and  gradually  extends  North,  they  fur- 
nish a  vast  amount  of  delicious  food,  and,  owing  to  im- 
proved facilities,  both  in  preserving  and  transporting 
them,  they  can  be  sent  in  a  perfect  condition  far  in- 
land. In  Long  Island  Sound  and  on  the  ocean  out- 
side, and  farther  south,  in  the  bays  and  inlets  of 
North  Carolina,  come  the  menhaden,  or  white-fish, 
or  moss-bunker,  swimming  on  the  surface  in  untold 
millions.  They  are  caught  in  seines,  and  are  used  in 
great  numbers  as  a  fertilizer,  and  also  are  pressed  to 


Fish  in  the  South  Atlantic.  483 

obtain  oil.  Though  their  flesh  is  somewhat  oily,  it  is 
nutritious,  sweet,  and  well-flavored,  but  their  bones 
are  so  numerous  as  almost  to  preclude  their  use  as  a 
table-fish.  However,  an  ingenious  machine  of  recent 
invention  has  come  to  the  rescue,  as  in  a  moment  or 
two  it  takes  out  the  bones,  and  leaves  the  flesh  alone 
to  be  prepared,  after  the  manner  of  French  and  Ital- 
ian sardines,  which  they  are  said  to  rival  in  sweet- 
ness and  flavor.  (Simmonds,  p.  82.) 

Fish  Products  of  the  South  Atlantic.— The  South- 
ern fisheries,  in  one  respect,  present  features  differ- 
ent from  the  Northern,  as  the  former  have  no  fisher- 
ies in  the  deep  sea,  but  extensive  ones  nearer  the 
shore  on  the  ocean  itself,  and  also  in  the  adjacent 
sounds  and  inlets.  When  the  fishing-season  comes 
in  the  spring  and  early  summer,  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina  abounds  in  shad  and  also  in  herring.  The 
latter  are  caught  in  seines  in  Albemarle  and  Pamlico 
Sounds,  at  the  rate  of  two  or  three  hundred  thou- 
sand a  day,  and  the  shad  at  the  rate  of  two  or  three 
thousand  a  catch.  "  Seven  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  tons  of  herrings  have  been  caught  in  a  sin- 
gle season,  and  of  shad  fifteen  hundred.  .  .  .  Steam- 
ers are  at  the  wharves  constantly  loading  with  these 
fine  fish,  packed  in  ice,  for  New  York  and  other 
Northern  markets."  (Handbook  of  North  Carolina,  p. 
334.,  and  Simmonds,  p.  60.)  In  addition  to  these,  large 
quantities  are  cured  by  means  of  salt,  and  inclosed 
in  appropriate  vessels,  that  they  may  be  sent  to  all 
parts  of  the  country  during  the  year.  Here  seems, 


484  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

to  human  view,  an  unfailing  source  of  nourishing 
food,  obtained  at  the  expense  of  only  taking  it  out  of 
the  Atlantic. 

The  mullet,  a  favorite  table-fish,  also  abounds  in 
the  waters  just  mentioned,  but  more  abundantly  in 
the  inlets  on  the  Florida  coast.  This  State  has  a 
sea-coast  of  about  a  thousand  miles,  extending  round 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  "  with  numerous  bays,  sounds, 
and  lagoons,"  and  rivers  that  teem  with  food-fishes. 

The  Gulf  of  Mexico  seems  not  inferior  in  propor- 
tion to  its  size  to  the  Atlantic  in  the  production  of 
fish,  all  of  which  appear  to  have  their  habitat  in 
southern  or  tropical  waters.  The  north  shore  of  the 
Gulf,  amid  its  numerous  bays  and  inlets,  is  specially 
prolific  in  fish,  and  where  are  seen  the  fishermen's 
primitive  homes,  oftentimes  forming  almost  villages. 
The  most  prominent  fish  of  this  region  is  the  red- 
snapper — thus  named  from  its  color — a  moderately 
large  fish  and  of  fair  flavor ;  and  also  the  crouper,  a 
fish  usually  about  the  same  size.  Great  numbers  of 
these  are  caught,  and  find  a  ready  sale  in  "  New  Or- 
leans and  the  cities  around  the  Gulf,  while  they  are 
also  found  occasionally  in  the  markets  as  far  north  as 
New  York."  On  this  shore  and  amid  the  islands 
"  fish  and  waterfowl  abound  in  countless  thousands," 
while  there  are  an  abundance  of  sea-turtle  and  crabs. 
"  The  water  is  thick  with  shoals  of  shrimp,"  which 
are  prepared  in  enormous  numbers  for  market ;  here 
are  likewise  the  finest  varieties  of  fish.  (Louisiana 
Resources,  p.  55.) 


Pacific  Fisheries.  485 

The  Pacific  Fisheries. — From  San  Diego  to  the 
Strait  of  Fuca — about  twelve  hundred  miles — the 
ordinary  fish  whose  habitat  is  in  that  ocean  are  found 
in  greater  or  less  numbers  along  the  coast;  though, 
in  the  part  of  the  ocean  around  Southern  California, 
the  best  fish  are  wanting  that  are  found  in  the  cor- 
responding latitudes  in  the  Atlantic,  notwithstanding 
in  these  waters  there  is  an  abundance  of  excellent 
fish  of  a  different  variety.  Among  these  is  the  bar- 
racuda, nearly  three  feet  long,  lithe  and  shapely, 
and  one  of  the  best;  and  the  "great  ocean-pickerel," 
much  brighter  and  clearer  in  color  than  his  fresh- 
water brother ;  and  the  red-fish  or  kelp,  thus  named 
because  it  frequents  the  sea-weed  or  kelp  ;  and  the 
rock-cod,  one  of  the  best  table-fishes  upon  the  coast : 
of  this  there  are  several  varieties,  and  all  rich  in 
flavor.  The  Spanish  mackerel  also  abounds — that 
is,  a  species,  as  it  belongs  to  the  same  family,  but 
is  not  equal  in  flavor  to  his  Atlantic  namesake.  This 
fish  is  often  two  feet  long,  and  weighs  from  eight  to 
twelve  pounds. 

The  most  important  fisheries  belonging  to  the 
Pacific  are,  however,  in  the  waters  of  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territory,  and  off  their  coasts,  and  that 
south  of  Alaska.  This  portion  is  stocked  with  the 
excellent  classes  of  fish  that  are  found  in  the  Atlan- 
tic, on  the  same  parallels  of  latitude,  such  as  cod 
—three  varieties — herring,  halibut,  and  other  kinds ; 
while  the  salmon,  in  five  varieties,  visit  the  rivers: 
but  as  yet  shad  do  not  run  up  the  rivers  that  flow 


486  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

into  the  Pacific.  It  is  reported  that  the  Fish  Com- 
mission intends  making  an  effort  to  propagate  the 
shad  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific. 

The  Salmon-Fishery.  —  The  Columbia  and  its 
tributaries  rise,  amid  ice  and  snow,  along  mountain- 
crests,  and  in  consequence  the  waters  of  that  great 
river  are  remarkable  for  their  clearness  and  cold- 
ness. Far  up  these  streams,  that  prince  of  fishes, 
the  "  spring  silver "  salmon,  has  chosen  favorite 
places  to  deposit  its  spawn.  In  immense  numbers 
they  ascend  the  river,  during  the  months  from  April 
to  August  inclusive.  The  salmon  can  be  captured 
only  at  night,  by  nets  stretched  across  the  current 
anywhere  in  the  wide  river.  The  water  is  very 
deep,  sometimes  fifty  feet,  and  wonderfully  clear,  so 
that  in  the  daytime  the  fish  see  the  nets,  and  avoid 
the  danger,  by  either  swimming  above  or  below 
them. 

The  canneries  for  salmon,  so  extensive  in  their 
operations,  are  located  at  Astoria  and  in  the  vicinity. 
The  process  is  very  interesting,  because  of  its  effi- 
ciency in  retaining  the  flavor  of  the  fish,  to  secure 
which  the  work  must  be  done  within  eight  to  twelve 
hours.  The  fish  are  brought  in  at  dawn  or  nearly  so ; 
are  immediately  dressed  and  cleansed,  care  being 
taken  to  remove  the  blood — for  the  salmon  bleeds 
profusely  ;  are  cut  into  proper  size,  placed  within 
sealed  cans,  which  are  immersed  by  means  of  ma- 
chinery in  immense  caldrons  of  boiling  water,  in 
which  the  fish  is  thoroughly  cooked  ;  the  air  forced 


Canneries.  487 

out  through  a  pin-hole,  which  is  closed  by  a  drop  of 
melted  solder  the  moment  the  can  leaves  the  water. 
Then,  after  being  tested,  that  no  imperfect  can  may 
leave  the  premises,  the  fish  are  ready  for  use.  Ten 
thousand  tons  have  been  canned  here  in  a  single 
year,  and  as  many  more  salted  and  put  up  in  barrels. 
These  salmon  thus  canned,  or  otherwise  prepared,  go 
over  the  civilized  world — England  taking  about  five 
thousand  tons.  Only  the  largest  are  caught,  the 
meshes  of  the  net  being  about  eight  inches  in  width, 
in  which  the  fish  become  entangled  by  their  gills. 
The  enormous  amount  of  salmon  captured  each  year 
is  gradually  diminishing  the  numbers  that  come  in 
from  the  ocean.  Congress  is  presumed  to  have  a 
care  for  the  welfare  of  future  generations  as  well  as 
for  the  present  one  ;  and  it  is  due  to  the  former  that 
this  system,  so  selfish  and  so  destructive,  should  be 
abolished  or  properly  regulated. 

Puget  Sound  and  Alaska. — The  whole  of  the 
tide-waters  of  Puget  Sound,  from  the  entrance  of  the 
Strait  of  Fuca  to  its  southern  extremity,  abound 
with  food-fishes.  These  comprise  the  salmon,  hali- 
but, herring,  and  cod,  with  a  number  of  minor  varie- 
ties. The  halibut,  though  apparently  of  Arctic  ori- 
gin, is  found  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific ;  it  is 
a  valuable  food-fish,  and  is  captured  in  large  num- 
bers by  the  Indians  all  along  off  the  shores  of  British 
Columbia  and  Alaska.  Twenty-five  miles  off  the 
opening  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca  is  a  bank  or  shallow 
in  the  ocean,  that  is  a  favorite  feeding-place  for  hali- 


488  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

but,  and  where  they  congregate  in  great  numbers. 
These  fish  are  of  unusual  size,  ranging  in  weight 
from  seventy-five  to  three  hundred  pounds.  The 
smoothness  of  the  ocean  aids  very  much  in  their 
capture.  The  great  fisheries  of  the  North  Pacific 
are  waiting  for  future  development,  though  their 
products  have  already  found  their  way  to  China  and 
Japan,  as  well  as  to  all  parts  of  the  Union. 

In  Alaska,  toward  the  latter  part  of  June,  com- 
mences the  run  of  salmon  up  the  Yukon  River. 
They  come  in  millions,  but  because  of  the  shortness 
of  the  season,  and  the  roundabout  distance  to  reach 
the  river,  this  fishery  has  as  yet  been  but  little  prose- 
cuted. These  fish  are  of  the  finest  quality,  both  in 
size  and  flavor,  and  for  this  reason  they  are  often 
characterized  by  fishermen  as  the  "  king  salmon  of 
Alaska."  The  waters  along  the  southern  shore  of 
this  Territory  are  specially  prolific  in  several  varie- 
ties of  fish — the  cod  and  halibut  of  unusual  size,  and 
the  quality  being  very  fine,  and  herrings  also  in 
untold  numbers.  ^  "  In  some  places  the  waters  teem 
with  fish  to  such  an  extent  that  they  seem  to  be  boil- 
ing. .  .  .  The  curing  and  canning  of  fish  have  already 
assumed  large  proportions."  (The  Governor  s  Report, 

P-5-) 

Fresh-Water  Fish. — We  have  noticed  thus  far 
only  the  fish  found  in  the  ocean,  and  the  two — the 
shad  and  the  salmon — which  annually'  visit  certain 
rivers  that  are  accessible  from  the  ocean. 

The  Great  Lakes  on  our  northern  frontier  are 


Fish-  Culture.  489 

well  stocked  with  fish  of  different  varieties,  many  of 
which  are  valuable  for  food — of  the  latter  class  the 
white-fish  being  pre-eminent.  It  has  properties  very 
similar  to  those  of  the  shad,  as  it  possesses  somewhat 
the  delicacy  and  flavor  of  that  popular  fish  ;  in  the 
main  it  is  equally  a  favorite,  and  is  characterized  as 
a  fresh-water  shad.  It  is  captured  in  great  numbers 
in  the  lakes  above  Ontario,  and  is  sent  long  distances 
in  refrigerator-cars  to  the  inland  cities,  and  is  found 
often  in  the  markets  of  those  on  the  seaboard. 

Fish-Culture. — The  resource  for  fish-food,  as  con- 
tained in  our  numerous  lakes  and  rivers  throughout 
the  Union,  is  worth  to  the  nation  many  millions,  if 
such  benefits  could  be  enumerated  only  in  dollars 
and  cents.  This  value  is  increasing  from  year  to 
year,  owing  to  the  beneficial  results  derived  from  the 
recent  introduction  by  the  National  as  well  as  some 
of  the  State  governments,  and  private  associations, 
of  the  system  of  fish-culture,  by  means  of  which  our 
lakes  and  rivers  are  not  only  stocked  with  the  best 
classes  of  our  own  fish,  but  Europe  and  Asia  are  laid 
under  contribution  to  furnish  us  specimens  of  their 
best  varieties.  Though  this  enterprise  is  only  in  its 
infancy,  the  results  thus  far  attained  indicate  that 
the  supplies  of  fish-food  will  continue  increasing  in 
proportion  to  the  demand. 

SHELL-FISH. 

Shell-fish,  such  as  oysters  and  clams,  flourish  in 
waters  that  are  more  or  less  salt ;  hence  their  favorite 


490  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

homes  are  at  the  mouths  of  rivers,  and  inlets  or  in 
bays  or  sounds  that  are  intimately  connected  with 
the  ocean,  and  where  the  agitation  of  the  water  is 
not  violent,  it  being  moved  mostly  by  the  flow  and 
ebb  of  the  tide.  They  always  breed  and  multiply 
in  those  places  where  the  bottom  is  a  soft  alluvial 
deposit,  in  which  they  can  burrow  and  find  food. 
The  area  where  this  class  of  fish  abounds  extends  so 
as  to  take  in  for  the  most  part  the  adjoining  sounds, 
bays,  and  inlets  along  the  entire  coast  of  the  United 
States,  on  both  oceans,  and  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
There  are,  of  course,  unsheltered  spaces  intervening, 
where  shell-fish  can  not  exist,  because  of  the  rapid 
motion  of  the  water,  which  renders  the  bottom  too 
hard  for  them  to  burrow. 

Oysters  and  Clams. — The  oyster  is  a  very  sensi- 


FIG.  13. — Oysters. 


Lobsters.  49 1 

live  creature  in  respect  to  what  it  feeds  upon,  and  in 
consequence  the  flavor  of  its  flesh  depends  so  much 
upon  the  quality  of  its  food  that  the  peculiar  char- 
acteristics that  any  class  may  possess  are  designated 
by  the  name  of  the  locality  in  which  they  were 
originally  found,  rather  than  assigned  to  a  separate 
species.  It  thrives  in  deeper  water  than  the  clam, 
and  is  taken  up  from  its  shallow  bed  on  the  bottom 
by  peculiarly  shaped  grappling-irons  at  the  ends  of 
two  long  handles,  which  are  worked  by  the  oyster- 
man.  The  variety  of  shell-fish  known  as  the  scallop 
is  found  in  abundance  in  the  waters  along  the  coast 
of  the  United  States. 

The  clam  is  deemed  in  value  second  only  to  the 
oyster ;  of  it  there  are  two  or  three  distinctive  varie- 
ties, as  the  round,  the  long-necked,  etc.  Clam-beds 
occur  in  sheltered  places  that  are  left  bare  by  the  re- 
ceding tide,  and  these  are  found  in  different  locali- 
ties from  Cape  Cod  to  Florida.  Clams  of  all  kinds 
burrow  so  deep  in  the  soft  or  muddy  bottom  that 
they  are  taken  from  their  hiding-places  only  at  low 
tide. 

Lobsters. — The  lobster  is  more  refined  in  its  na^ 
ture  than  either  the  oyster  or  the  clam  ;  it  prefers 
clear  water  and  a  clean  bottom,  where  its  food  is  ob- 
tained. Its  favorite  home  is  in  deep  waters  in  the 
bays  and  sounds,  or  a  short  distance  from  the  shore 
in  the  ocean  itself.  The  lobster  is  captured  by 
means  of  boxes  called  pots,  which  are  anchored  on 
the  bottom,  and  in  which  is  placed  bait,  and  when 


492  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

the  lobster  enters  the  box  to  obtain  the  choice  mor- 
sel its  destiny  is  sealed.  Lobsters  abound  in  great 
numbers  off  the  coast  of  New  England  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  land ;  they  are  also  found  in  the  deep 
waters  within  the  bays  along  that  coast  and  in  Long 
Island  Sound.  They  are  in  great  demand  as  a  deli- 
cacy rather  than  for  substantial  food.  Within  recent 
years  they  have  been  taken  in  such  multitudes  as  to 
sensibly  diminish  their  numbers,  and,  if  measures  are 
not  soon  taken  by  the  Government  to  regulate  their 
capture,  the  descendants  of  those  who  are  now,  for 
the  sake  of  gain,  destroying  them,  will  scarcely  have 
any.  The  great  mass  of  those  taken  are  canned,  and 
sent  abroad  mostly  to  England ;  they  are  also  sent  to 
the  cities  in  the  interior  of  our  own  country.  Says 
an  authority  on  the  subject :  "  A  few  years  ago  it 
was  not  uncommon  to  catch  lobsters  weighing  from 
ten  to  twenty  pounds ;  now  the  average  is  from  three 
to  six  pounds."  This  fact  plainly  indicates  what  will 
soon  be  the  result. 

Oysters  in  the  Sound. — Passing  from  New  Eng- 
land, we  find  Long  Island  Sound  lined  along  its  shores, 
from  end  to  end,  with  beds  of  native  oysters  wher- 
ever the  conditions  are  favorable,  or  where  they  can 
be  cultivated.  These  beds  occur  sometimes  in  the 
deeper  water,  and  have  been  often  discovered  where 
least  expected.  Almost  side  by  side  with  the  oyster- 
beds  are  frequently  found  those  of  the  clams  ;  the 
latter  being  more  prolific  and  natives,  as  they  are  never 
planted.  Oysters  are  often  brought  in  vessels  from 


Oysters  in  Chesapeake  Bay.  493 

Chesapeake  Bay  to  the  Sound  and  dropped  overboard 
in  suitable  places ;  there  they  are  left  to  themselves 
to  obtain  food,  and  grow  into  good  condition  for  the 
table.  Such  oysters  oftentimes  become  acclimatized 
and  developed  as  finely  as  the  native,  whose  place 
they  were  brought  to  fill  when  the  latter  became  ex- 
hausted in  supplying  the  demand.  These  beds  are 
not  confined  to  the  Sound  itself,  but  they  extend 
around  New  York  harbor,  and  in  the  small  bays  and 
inlets  along  the  Jersey  shore  and  vicinity  ;  count- 
ing the  shores  of  inlets  which  are  from  twenty  to 
thirty  miles  in  length,  the  whole  distance  is  crowded 
more  or  less  with  beds  of  oysters  and  of  clams. 
Within  recent  years  successful  efforts  have  been 
made,  specially  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Sound,  to 
cultivate  more  carefully  the  native  oyster,  and  it  is 
found  .that,  when  properly  cared  for,  they  become 
large  and  luscious.  Here  is  a  vast  and  well-defined 
resource,  the  outcome  of  which  is  increasing  every 
year  in  proportion  to  the  demand.  An  estimate  can 
be  made  of  the  amount  of  labor  and  capital  invested 
in  this  means  of  supplying  one  class  of  food  to  the 
people,  when,  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  city 
alone,  are  engaged  in  this  business  more  than  eight 
hundred  seamen,  and  about  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  sailing-vessels  of  all  grades. 

Oysters  in  Chesapeake  Bay.  --  Farther  south 
come  this  noble  bay  and  its  numerous  inlets  and 
mouths  of  rivers,  wherein  the  oyster  flourishes  bet- 
ter than  anywhere  else  in  the  Union.  This  remark- 


494  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

able  water — about  two  hundred  miles  in  length  and 
from  four  to  forty  in  width — is  stocked  with  fish 
from  Hampton  Roads  to  the  mouth  of  the  Susque- 
hanna  at  its  head,  while  its  bottom  may  be  said  to 
be  covered  with  beds  of  oysters  unquestionably  the 
finest  in  the  world.  In  all  the  employments  con- 
nected with  this  great  store-house  of  shell-fish  food, 
it  is  estimated,  are  engaged  about  thirty  thousand 
persons.  On  this  bay  or  in  connection  with  it  are 
two  important  points  in  this  trade  in  marine  food 
—Norfolk,  Virginia,  and  Baltimore,  Maryland.  Says 
an  English  authority  :  "  Baltimore  ships  raw  oysters 
to  South  America,  California,  and  Australia  and  be- 
sides to  all  parts  of  Europe  ;  and  the  demand  will 
steadily  increase  as  they  become  better  known,  from 
the  fact  that  Chesapeake  oysters,  like  canvas-back 
ducks,  owe  their  superior  flavor  to  the  food  obtained 
on  their  feeding-grounds."  (Simmonds,  Wealth  of  the 
Ocean,  p.  144.)  In  Baltimore  are  also  numerous  large 
establishments  engaged,  during  the  winter  and  early 
spring  months,  in  canning  or  pickling  oysters  for  con- 
sumption in  the  United  States  and  in  foreign  coun- 
tries. The  thousands  thus  employed  are  likewise 
engaged  during  the  summer  and  the  autumn  in  can- 
ning small  fruits  and  vegetables,  which  are  so  abun- 
dantly produced  in  the  gardens  in  the  region  fora  dis- 
tance round  the  city.  Oysters  occur  still  farther  south 
in  the  inlets  and  bays  along  the  coast  from  Virginia 
to  Florida,  but  have  been  thus  far  utilized  only  for 
domestic  use,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  where  found. 


Green- Turtle  Fishing.  495 

Oysters  in  the  Gulf. — On  the  north  shore  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  where  are  numerous  inlets  and  small 
bays,  oysters  abound.  They  are  specially  plentiful 
and  of  fine  quality  in  the  Bay  of  Mobile,  and  in  the 
adjoining  waters,  they  being  cultivated  on  quite  a 
large  scale.  (State  of  Alabama,  p.  116.)  In  Louisi- 
ana are  extensive  oyster-beds  along  the  southern 
coast  and  bayous  ;  the  size  and  flavor  of  these  oys- 
ters are  claimed  to  be  unsurpassed.  Some  of  them 
"are  so  large  that  they  are  not  merchantable  to 
saloon-keepers,  who  buy  them  by  the  barrel  and  sell 
by  the  dozen.  The  canning  of  the  Gulf  shrimp  is 
attracting  attention,  and  the  business  is  increasing." 
(Louisiana  Resources,  pp.  j,  8.} 

Oysters  and  Clams  in  the  Northwest. — Oysters 
and  clams  abound  in  great  abundance  in  the  Strait 
of  Fuca,  and  in  Puget  Sound — the  Chesapeake  of  the 
Northwest.  The  native  oyster  is  quite  small,  but  of 
good  flavor ;  those  of  Shoal  water  Bay,  on  the  coast, 
are  plentiful,  and  find  a  ready  market  in  San  Francis- 
co. The  Eastern  oyster  has  been  introduced  suffi- 
ciently to  prove  that  it  can  be  successfully  culti- 
vated. Here  is  a  wide  field  for  enterprise.  "  Glams 
of  several  varieties  abound,  and  range  in  size  from 
one  to  ten  inches,  and  from  one  ounce  to  ten  pounds 
in  weight."  It  is  hoped  the  United  States  Fish 
Commission  will  soon  introduce  the  Eastern  lobster 
to  these  waters,  and,  if  possible,  the  shad  and  the 
mackerel.  (Report  of  Governor,  1886,  p.  37.) 

Green-Turtle  Fishing. — The   feeding-grounds   of 


496  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

the  turtle  are  at  intervals  around  Florida,  from  Per- 
nandina  on  the  Atlantic,  to  St.  Marks  on  the  north 
shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  prominent  places 
of  this  fishing  industry  are  Key  West  and  Cedar 
Keys,  the  latter  being  near  shoals  in  the  Gulf  that 
are  extensive  feeding-grounds  for  the  turtle ;  these 
extend  from  St.  Marks  south  along  the  coast  to  Key 
West.  The  turtles  are  captured  in  nets  with  large 
meshes,  in  which  they  become  entangled  ;  as  soon 
as  caught  they  are  shipped  to  market,  the  object 
being  to  send  them  when  alive.  (Florida  Times- 
Union,  1885^) 

Sponge-Fishery. — In  1852  it  was  discovered  that  in 
the  waters  around  a  portion  of  Florida  as  fine  sponges 
were  to  be  found  as  are  produced  in  the  Mediterra- 
nean. At  Key  West  and  in  the  vicinity  was  com- 
menced the  industry  of  obtaining  sponges  and  of  pre- 
paring them  for  use  ;  the  business  increased  from  year 
to  year,  as  the  fine  quality  of  the  -sponges  became 
better  known.  Meanwhile  the  localities  where  they 
were  first  discovered  became  nearly  exhausted,  but  a 
much  larger  area  was  found  in  the  Gulf,  and  in  1870 
Appalachicola  became  actively  engaged  in  fishing  for 
sponges.  In  the  Mediterranean  the  fishermen  dive  to 
the  bottom  for  them ;  but  the  Americans  use  a  two- 
pronged  hook  at  the  end  of  a  slender  pole  some  forty 
feet  long,  according  to  the  depth  of  the  water, 
meantime  using  what  they  call  a  "  water-glass  "• 
which  is  like  a  bucket  with  a  glass  bottom — that  en- 
ables them  to  see  the  sponge.  With  these  hooks  the 


Sponge-Fishery.  497 

sponges  are  disengaged  from  the  bottom  and  drawn 
up,  and  are  spread  upon  the  deck  of  the  sloop  in  the 
sunshine  and  left  to  die.  Afterward  they  are  freed 
of  a  large'  portion  of  the  glutinous  matter  that  is  con- 
nected with  the  fiber  of  the  creature,  then  they  are 
soaked  for  about  a  week  in^salt-water,  which  process 
loosens  the  skin  or  covering  that  had  become  dry 
and  tough  under  the  sunshine.  It  is  now  beaten, 
squeezed,  and  made  partially  clean,  and  taken  to  the 
packing-house  where  it  is  thoroughly  cleansed, 
trimmed,  and  made  ready  for  use.  The  work  is 
more  successfully  prosecuted  during  the  summer, 
and  only  when  the  water  is  both  calm  and  clear.  It 
has  been  discovered  recently  that  with  proper  care 
the  sponge  can  be  cultivated  to  almost  any  extent. 

Coral-Fishery. — In  the  vicinity  of  these  sponges 
are  also  found  vast  beds  of  excellent  coral ;  the  latter 
lie  along  on  the  reefs  near  the  shore  of  southern 
Florida.  Coral-fishing  here  is  only  partially  devel- 
oped, yet  nearly  enough  is  obtained  to  supply  the 
manufacturers  of  that  article  in  the  United  States. 
Several  hundred  men  are  engaged  in  dredging  for 
coral  in  the  vicinity  of  Key  West,  but  their  methods 
are  quite  primitive  in  their  character. 

The  coral  deposits  of  the  Mediterranean,  which 
have  been  worked  for  many  centuries,  are  nearly 
exhausted,  and  in  consequence  numbers  of  the  fish- 
ermen thus  employed  have  already  emigrated  to 
Florida. 

33 


XLVI. 

FUR-BEARING   SEALS — WILD   GAME. 

WE  possess  virtually  an  exclusive  but  unique  re- 
source of  the  ocean  in  the  fur-bearing  seals,  whose  sum- 
mer resort  is  on  the  Pribyloff  Islands — the  principal 
ones  being  St.  Paul  and  St.  George — in  Behring 
Sea,  within  the  boundaries  of  Alaska.  They  come 
to  these  islands  only  at  their  breeding-season,  which 
extends  from  about  the  first  of  May  till  near  the  mid- 
dle of  October ;  the  remainder  of  the  year  they  are 
supposed  to  roam  over  the  North  Pacific  and  the 
adjacent  portions  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  in  search  of 
their  usual  food — small  fishes. 

These  seals  have  characteristics  that  no  others 
have  in  the  length  and  peculiarly  fine  texture  of  their 
fur,  which  is  said  to  be  the  only  fur  that  is  unin- 
jured by  dyeing.  The  males  are  allowed  by  law  to 
be  captured  from  about  the  first  of  May  till  August, 
when  they  begin  to  shed  their  coats,  and  the  fur  be- 
comes comparatively  worthless.  The  skins  are  par- 
tially cured  by  means  of  salt  and  sent  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, thence  for  the  most  part  to  England.  In  Lon- 
don are  the  chief  establishments  in  the  world  for 


Peculiarities  of  this  Seal.  499 

dyeing  and  preparing  the  fur  on  these  carefully 
tanned  skins.  The  great  beauty  of  the  finished  fur 
is  attained  by  a  process  which  is  a  secret  to  the  out- 
side world.  It  requires  from  twelve  to  eighteen 
dyeings  and  manipulations,  to  secure  the  exquisitely 
beautiful  gloss  of  the  bronze  or  the  jet-black  fur. 
The  labor  pays,  as  it  produces  the  material  for  that 
comfortable  article  of  dress,  the  seal-skin  cloak  worn 
by  ladies.  Fur-seal  skins  are  also  prepared  to  some 
extent  in  Albany,  New  York. 

Efforts  to  preserve  the  Seals. — Avaricious  hunt- 
ers— white  men  and  Indians — were  rapidly  destroy- 
ing these  seals,  and  even  killing  them  at  a  season 
when  the  fur  was  almost  valueless,  when  Alaska 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  United  States  in 
1867,  at  the  price  of  $7,200,000.  The  National  Gov- 
ernment at  once  took,  measures  for  regulating  the 
capture  of  the  seals.  A  company,  meanwhile,  was 
formed  and  chartered  to  prosecute  this  seal-fishery, 
and  which  pays  to  the  Treasury  for  the  privilege  a 
yearly  rental  of  about  $300,000,  thus  producing  a 
revenue  of  four  per  cent  on  the  original  cost  of 
Alaska.  At  first  the  number  allowed  to  be  taken 
was  limited  to  100,000  a  year,  that  being  deemed 
sufficient  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  world  ;  since 
then  the  number  has  been  increased  to  125,000.  A 
United  States  revenue-cutter  is  always  on  hand  to 
enforce  the  laws,  and  under  these  judicious  regula- 
tions the  seals  are  gradually  increasing  their  numbers. 

Peculiarities  of  this  Seal. — This  remarkable  sea- 


500  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

animal  has  singular  habits,  of  which  a  brief  notice 
may  interest  the  reader.     The  narrow  beaches  of  the 


FIG.  14.— Fur-bearing  Seal  of  Alaska. 

Pribyloff  Islands  are  covered  with  large  bowlders, 
detached  from  one  another  by  irregular  spaces  that 
serve  also  as  passage-ways.  Instinct  leads  these  seals 
to  congregate  here,  during  the  breeding-season,  in 
many  myriads.  The  males  come  first,  and  select 
each  one  his  district  or  bowlder,  and  take  possession 
peaceably,  if  there  are  no  rivals ;  but,  if  there  are, 
they  fight  it  out,  and  the  one  that  masters  holds  the 
coveted  bowlder,  without  further  interference  on  the 
part  of  the  one  vanquished,  or  of  others.  Each  one's 


The  Seal  as  a  Protector.  501 

district  is  bounded  by  the  irregular  spaces  between 
the  rocks:  but  these  spaces  or  pathways  are  re- 
spected as  neutral  ground,  and  within  them  the  bit- 
terest enemies  peaceably  pass  and  repass  one  another ; 
but,  let  one  infringe  upon  the  domain  of  the  other, 
and  at  once  a  fight  commences  in  order  to  eject  the 
intruder. 

Matters  being  thus  arranged,  they  all  await  the 
coming  of  the  females,  on  whose  arrival  commences 
a  series  of  miscellaneous  fights,  but  for  another  pur- 
pose. Each  male  strives  to  secure  as  many  females 
as  possible  under  his  protection,  and  quiet  does  not 
prevail  until  these  domestic  arrangements  are  made, 
and  which,  after  the  contest  is  ended,  are  seldom  dis- 
turbed. The  male  defends  his  family  to  the  utmost, 
and  guards  the  young  when  they  are  helpless,  and  is 
so  diligent  in  his  paternal  duties  that,  during  the  sea- 
son, he  does  not  even  go  into  the  water  to  obtain 
food,  but  lives  upon  the  fat  which  he  has  accumu- 
lated within  the  previous  eight  or  nine  months ;  but 
the  female  goes  regularly  into  the  water  to  feed,  and 
as  regularly  returns  to  nurse  her  young.  When  the 
latter  are  old  enough  to  seek  their  own  food,  parents 
and  all  leave  the  islands  until  the  next  season.  It  is 
thought  by  naturalists  that  this  kind  of  seal  does  not 
attain  its  full  size  before  it  is  five  or  six  years  old. 
These  heads  of  families,  both  male  and  female,  are  ex- 
empt from  capture.  But  there  is  another  class  that 
become  victims :  the  latter  are  the  males  that  do  not 
have  females  to  care  for  ;  they  are  significantly 


502  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

known  as  "  bachelors."  These  unfortunates  congre- 
gate by  themselves,  and  when,  as  far  as  can  be 
judged,  at  the  right  age,  they  become  the  legitimate 
prey  of  the  hunters,  and  thus  furnish  their  skins  and 
fur  to  warm  and  decorate  the  ladies. 

In  order  to  perpetuate  the  race,  a  United  States 
law  forbids  the  killing  of  the  females.  Formerly  the 
latter  were  killed  indiscriminately  with  the  males,  and 
the  fur-bearing  seal,  owing  to  the  greed  of  these  hunt- 
ers, was  fast  becoming  extinct ;  but  the  lawr  came  to 
the  rescue,  and  which,  as  occasion  requires,  is  en- 
forced by  a  United  States  revenue-cutter. 

WILD   GAME. 

At  this  day,  in  the  cultivated  portions  of  the 
Union,  wild  game  is  of  no  special  value,  unless  it 
may  be  said  of  the  varieties  of  birds  of  passage ;  but 
in  early  times,  in  these  very  regions,  the  game  in  the 
forests  was  of  great  importance  to  the  original  set- 
tler, as  in  a  great  measure  he  depended  upon  it  for  a 
large  amount  of  the  daily  food  for  his  family.  So 
great  was  this  demand  in  the  early  settlements  that 
men  engaged  in  hunting,  in  order  to  supply  provis- 
ions for  the  people,  in  the  same  manner  as  men  of 
to-day  are  engaged  in  fishing.  Neither  is  it  prop- 
er to  depreciate  this  resource,  because  only  in  the 
days  of  the  colonists,  or  of  pioneer  settlers,  was  it 
largely  drawn  upon,  any  more  than  we  should  hesi- 
tate to  acknowledge  the  benefits  conferred  upon  our 
fathers  by  the  use  of  coal,  though  in  the  process  it 


The   Turkey.  503 

was  itself  consumed.  The  colony  of  Virginia,  in  the 
winter  of  1607,  was  saved  from  starvation,  or  nearly 
so,  by  the  numbers  of  wild  ducks  and  geese  which 
they  captured  on  the  lower  Chesapeake. 

Wild  Animals  and  Birds. — It  is  to  be  noted  as  a 
great  advantage  that  in  the  forests  of  the  United 
States  were  found  no  such  large  and  dangerous  ani- 
mals as  the  lion  and  the  tiger,  but  on  the  contrary 
those  of  a  harmless  type,  and  suitable  for  food,  as  the 
deer,  moose,  or  elk,  of  the  East  and  North,  and  in  the 
West  the  buffalo,  the  deer,  and  the  antelope.  The 
smaller  food-animals,  such  as  rabbits  and  squirrels, 
were  found  in  multitudes.  Of  wild-fowl  there  were 
two  classes :  the  aquatic,  including  the  varieties  of 
ducks  and  geese ;  while  inland  were  the  quail  or 
partridge,  the  pigeon,  and  many  of  lesser  note,  and 
the  prairie-hen  or  American  grouse  of  the  West. 

The  Turkey. — More  than  all  in  value,  the  turkey 
was  found  in  large  flocks,  and  ranged  extensively  in 
all  the  timber-lands  of  the  country  East  as  well  as 
West.  The  latter  is  indigenous  to  America,  and  it 
adds  immensely  to  its  value  that  it  was  capable  of 
being  domesticated,  which  merit  none  of  the  others 
mentioned  possessed.  It  takes  the  highest  rank  as  a 
table  delicacy,  both  in  the  United  States  and  in  Eu- 
rope. John  Cabot  and  his  son  Sebastian,  on  their 
first  voyage  to  America  (1497),  were  presented  by  the 
Indians  with  a  male  turkey  and  two  hens.  These 
were  taken  to  Bristol,  England,  and  from  them  are 
descended  the  turkeys  of  Europe.  Had  this  voyage 


504  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

conferred  no  other  benefit  upon  Europe  than  the  in- 
troduction of  this  valuable  bird,  its  expenses  would 
have  been  more  than  amply  repaid. 

That  wild  game  is  still  valued,  especially  by  the 
settlers  in  the  West,  we  incidentally  barn  from  the 
notice  it  receives  in  some  of  the  reports  of  Terri- 
torial Governors  and  in  some  of  the  new  States : 
"  Wild  game  abounds,  and  its  wanton  slaughter  is 
prohibited,  that  it  may  be  preserved  for  the  use  of 
the  inhabitants.  .  .  .  This  Territory  has  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  species  of  birds,  and  from 
its  central  location  may  be  taken  as  a  criterion  of  the 
others  adjoining.  The  wild  turkey  abounds  in  all 
the  mountains  of  the  Territory — specimens  very 
often  weighing  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  pounds." 
(Governor  s  Report,  Wyoming,  1885.} 

"  In  all  the  valleys  of  the  State  [Oregon]  abound 
deer,  pheasants,  grouse,  quail,  snipe — the  last  four  of 
unusual  size.  ...  In  the  mountains,  deer,  elk,  and 
antelope,  in  great  numbers  ;  in  autumn  wild  geese 
and  ducks  swarm  along  the  water-courses.  .  .  .  The 
valleys  and  hills  are  grass-grown,  and  are  alive  with 
grouse  and  snipe,  sage-hens,  and  prairie-chickens." 
\_Utah.~]  "The  forests  abound  with  deer,  grouse, 
and  pheasants.  .  .  .  Elk,  deer,  and  antelope  are  still 
abundant."  (Washington  and  Dakota  Territories^} 

The  Canvas-back  Duck. — The  food-animals  of 
the  forest,  large  and  small,  having  thus  completed 
their  mission,  virtually  disappear  from  the  eastern, 
cultivated  portions  of  the  Union  ;  of  the  game-birds, 


The  Canvas-back  Duck.  505 

the  turkey  was  domesticated,  but  those  of  passage 
still  remained.  The  latter  are  the  ducks  and  geese, 
in  numerous  varieties,  that  yearly  frequent  the  bays, 
inlets,  and  sounds  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  There 
is  not  in  the  world  a  water  so  prolific  in  birds  of 
game  as  Chesapeake  Bay,  while  farther  south,  in 
Albemarle  and  Pamlico  Sounds,  the  same  kinds  are 
found  in  multitudes ;  but  the  Chesapeake  is  the  favor- 
ite feeding-ground  of  the  famed  canvas-back  duck — 
the  latter  found  only  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
United  States.  Says  Dr.  Lewis,  an  authority  in  re- 
spect to  the  birds  of  the  Chesapeake:  "All  species 
of  wild-fowl  come  here  in  countless  myriads ;  and  it 
is  really  necessary  to  visit  the  region  in  order  to 
form  a  just  idea  of  the  wonderful  multitudes,  and 
numerous  varieties  of  the  ducks  alone,  that  darken 
these  waters,  and  hover  in  interminable  flocks  over 
these  famous  feeding-grounds."  By  far  the  most 
valuable  of  these  birds  is  the  celebrated  canvas-back 
duck ;  it  frequents  the  shallows  where  the  water 
may  be  from  six  to  ten  feet  in  depth,  and  diving 
down  finds  on  the  bottom  its  favorite  food,  a  species 
of  wild  celery,  said  to  be  found  nowhere  else ;  it  has 
a  grass-like  blade,  and  a  white  and  tender  root,  whose 
peculiar  flavor,  being  imparted  to  the  flesh  of  the 
duck,  renders  it  a  table  delicacy  unsurpassed  by  that 
of  any  other  bird. 

Migration  of  Ducks  and  Geese. — It  is  an  inter- 
esting fact,  in  relation  to  these  ducks  and  geese,  that 
they  go  sufficiently  early  in  the  spring  to  spend  the 


506  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

latter  portion  of  that  season  and  the  entire  summer 
on  the  banks  of  the  Yukon  River,  about  63°  north 
latitude,  in  distant  Alaska.  The  instinct  of  these 
birds  is  marvelous !  The  winged  columns,  as  regu- 
lar as  battalions  of  soldiers,  move  from  the  Chesa- 
peake and  other  bays  and  sounds  along  the  South 
Atlantic,  and  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico, in  a  general  northwest  direction,  till  they  come 
in  contact  with  the  Rocky  Mountains,  thence  up 
their  eastern  base,  and  finally  through  their  depres- 
sions, to  the  head-streams  of  the  Yukon,  and  down 
them  to  the  main  river.  There  comes  also  another 
column,  whose  destination  is  the  same,  along  the  west- 
ern base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  from  the  Gulf  of  Cal- 
ifornia, and  other  bays  and  inlets  of  the  Pacific. 
Along  both  banks  of  the  Yukon,  and  for  hundreds 
of  miles,  amid  the  sedges  that  extend  back  from  the 
stream,  they  build  their  nests  and  rear  their  young, 
meanwhile  feeding  on  the  many  varieties  of  berries 
that  are  produced  in  that  region  in  immense  profu- 
sion. (See  page  458.)  When  the  young  are  able  to 
fly  and  ready  for  the  journey,  the  entire  number  set 
out,  and,  never  making  a  mistake,  return  by  the  same 
route  to  their  winter  homes  and  feeding-grounds. 

Game-Food  in  Virginia  and  Minnesota. — Norfolk, 
Virginia,  because  of  its  location  and  facilities  for 
transporting  freight,  has  become  a  center  of  the 
trade  in  the  game  derived  from  the  Chesapeake,  and 
also  from  Albemarle  and  Pamlico  Sounds.  During 
the  latter  portion  of  autumn  and  through  the  winter 


Ducks  and  Geese  hunted.  507 

rapid  steamers  and  railways  distribute  all  classes  of 
this  game  wherever  demanded.  The  mission  of 
these  wild  ducks  and  geese  is  by  no  means  limited 
in  their  furnishing  food  from  the  Chesapeake  ;  for, 
on  their  journey  in  the  spring  to  the  Yukon,  after 
flying  some  six  or  seven  hundred  miles,  they  must 
rest,  and  instinct  leads  them  to  alight  where  they 
can  obtain  food,  amid  the  lakes  of  Minnesota  and  the 
adjacent  States.  Here  they  are  also  hunted  for 
food,  until  they  resume  their  journey,  and  when  they 
arrive  at  the  Yukon  they  are  hunted  again  for  the 
same  reason  by  the  Indians.  However,  in  spite  of 
these  annoyances,  they  manage  to  become  exceed- 
ingly fat,  so  that  they  can  scarcely  fly,  because  of 
their  feeding  on  nutritious  berries.  On  their  way 
back,  in  the  autumn,  they  again  alight  to  rest  among 
the  same  lakes  where  the  previous  spring  they  had 
stopped,  and  again  to  be  harassed  by  the  hunters. 
Thus,  nearly  the  year  through,  these  poor  birds  are 
furnishing  food  for  man,  and  are  free  from  their  ene- 
mies only  when,  on  their  passage  to  and  fro,  they  are 
out  of  gunshot,  by  being  too  high  in  the  air. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  wanton  destruction  of 
these  birds  on  the  Chesapeake  has  been  gradually 
diminishing  their  numbers.  They  surely  ought  to 
be  properly  protected  by  legislative  enactments,  not 
only  on  the  Chesapeake,  but  on  the  lakes  of  the 
Northwest,  and  perhaps  it  will  yet  be  found  neces- 
sary to  extend  similar  protection  to  the  banks  of  the 
Yukon. 


XLVII. 

RESOURCE   IN   WATER-POWER   AND    IN   LAND. 

WE  of  to-day  do  not  appreciate  so  vividly  as  did 
our  fathers  the  value  of  one  natural  resource — that 
of  water-power — so  important,  when  sufficient  in 
quantity,  because  of  its  comparatively  small  expense. 
Until  the  era  of  steam,  this  was  almost  the  only 
power  used  for  driving  machinery,  such  as  mills  for 
grinding  grain,  or  for  sawing  and  preparing  lumber, 
also  for  manufacturing  of  various  kinds ;  and  to-day, 
in  the  interior  highlands  of  the  country,  are  almost 
innumerable  small  mills  and  factories  of  different 
kinds  driven  by  water-power.  In  portions  of  the 
Union,  especially  where  the  winds  from  off  the 
ocean  were  available,  windmills  were  often  used, 
and  are  yet  in  the  interior  in  many  portions  of  the 
land,  usually  for  pumping  water  from  wells.  Many 
streams,  however,  have  outlasted  their  usefulness, 
often  from  the  lack  of  water  caused  by  the  dimi- 
nution of  the  forests  amid  which  are  their  head- 
streams,  or  they  have  been  superseded  by  the  use  of 
steam.  Yet  there  are  in  the  Union  numbers  of 
rivers  that  "will  run  on  forever'*  in  doing  good 
service  for  man. 


Water-Powers.  509 

The  Merrimac  and  the  Connecticut.  —  There 
trickle  down  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  White 
Mountains  innumerable  little  streams  that  unite  and 
form  a  clear,  bright,  and  rapid  rivulet,  which  is 
joined  from  time  to  time  by  other  streamlets  creep- 
ing out  from  ravines  and  valleys,  until  it  becomes  a 
small  river,  under  the  name  of  the  Pemigewasset. 
Farther  on  its  way,  after  being  joined  by  others,  it 
takes  the  name  of  the  Merrimac.  Who  would  imag- 
ine that  this  modest,  this  beautiful  little  river  was 
really,  in  one  respect,  the  most  remarkable  on  the 
globe?  Within  the  many  cities  that  line  its  banks 
it  drives  more  mills,  and  of  greater  extent  for  manu- 
facturing purposes,  than  any  other  river  known,  in 
proportion  to  its  length  and  amount  of  its  waters. 
It  confers  benefits  directly  upon  tens  of  thousands 
by  being  the  occasion  of  giving  them  employment, 
and  indirectly  upon  hundreds  of  thousands  more. 
The  Connecticut  carries  a  much  larger  body  of  water, 
and  for  a  much  greater  distance,  than  the  Merrimac, 
and  it  claims  a  similar  honor  in  being  useful,  on  ac- 
count of  the  numerous  mills  it  drives,  and  of  the 
wealthy  manufacturing  cities  that  have  sprung  into 
existence  with  wonderful  rapidity  along  its  middle 
portion,  even  within  the  third  of  a  century.  These 
two  prominent  rivers  belong  to  New  England,  but 
all  through  the  Middle  States  are  numberless  water- 
powers,  though  none  are,  or  can  be,  utilized  to  so 
great  an  extent. 

Other  Water-Powers.— The  Alleghanies  on  both 


5io  Natural  Resources  of  the   United  States. 

their  eastern  and  western  sides  have  head-streams, 
with  their  waterfalls  and  power :  on  the  Atlantic 
slope  are  prominent  the  falls  of  the  James  in  Vir- 
ginia ;  on  the  southern  end  of  these  mountains,  nu- 
merous streams,  furnishing  immense  water-power, 
take  their  rise  and  course  their  way  to  the  Gulf,  as 
the  Coosa  and  the  Chattahoochee,  and  others.  The 
most  remarkable  series  of  water-powers  in  that  sec- 
tion, and  which  take  their  rise  in  the  Alleghanies,  are 
in  the  Tennessee,  with  its  large  volume  of  water, 
much  more  than  that  in  the  Merrimac  and  Connecti- 
cut combined,  or  in  the  Ohio.  The  river  descends 
for  thirty  miles  over  a  series  of  shoals  called  the 
"  Muscles "  (from  that  fresh-water  shell-fish),  thus 
"  creating  an  amount  of  power  greater  than  is  to  be 
found  on  the  continent  within  the  same  compass." 
The  National  Government  has  constructed  round  the 
shoals  a  canal,  completing  it  in  1890,  which,  it  is  esti- 
mated, "  will  afford  power  enough  to  turn  machin- 
ery "  to  an  untold  amount,  and  that  without  impair- 
ing its  efficiency  for  the  purposes  of  navigation. 
The  water-power  of  the  upper  Mississippi  is  re- 
markable for  its  greatness,  and  for  the  benefits  it 
has  already  conferred  upon  the  people.  In  this  re- 
spect may  be  cited  the  advantages  which  the  cities 
of  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  have  derived  from  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 


The   Wealth  in  Land.  511 


LAND   RESOURCES   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Political  economists,  especially  those  of  Europe, 
in  endeavoring  to  account  for  the  unprecedented 
material  progress  of  the  American  people,  take  the 
ground  that  the  chief  basis  upon  which  they  secured 
success  was  the  possession  of  almost  a  continent  of 
cheap  and  fertile  lands.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
territory  of  the  Union,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  remark- 
able, not  only  for  the  richness  of  its  soil,  but  also  for 
a  climate  that  fosters  agricultural  products.  By 
means  of  Nature's  highways,  which,  when  needed, 
have  been  supplemented  by  railroads,  the  United 
States  have  unusually  fine  facilities  for  communica- 
tion between  different  portions  of  their  large  do- 
main. There  is  another  reason,  though  not  fully 
appreciated  by  these  writers,  as  this  land  of  pure 
springs  and  crystal  brooks,  of  fertile  soil,  and  often 
with  minerals  underneath,  would  have  remained  un- 
utilized, had  it  not  been  for  the  unwonted  industry 
and  energy  of  the  people.  They  appeared  to  receive 
a  new  inspiration  of  hope  for  themselves  and  their 
children  when  they  became  a  Nation,  and  were  freed 
from  the  trammels  of  foreign  authority,  and  thus 
found  relief  from  numerous  drawbacks  to  their  fu- 
ture prosperity  ;  and  the  whole  Nation  under  this 
new  impulse  bounded  forward,  as  one  man,  to  pos- 
sess and  subdue  this  goodly  land. 

Mistakes  as  to  the  Soil,  etc.,  of  the  Great  Plains. 
— The  more  early  writers,  tourists,  and  explorers 


512  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

often  indulged  in  discouraging  statements  in  respect 
to  the  fertility  of  portions  of  the  great  Western 
plains.  These  gloomy  forebodings  for  the  most  part 
have  vanished,  since  it  has  been  practically  demon- 
strated that  nearly  all  these  plains  are  capable  of 
successful  cultivation  or  of  pasturage.  It  is  found 
that  some  portions  of  these  regions,  which,  hith- 
erto, have  been  deemed  unfertile  if  not  absolutely 
barren,  possess  an  alluvial  soil,  the  ctibris  of  for- 
mer ages,  that  is  susceptible  of  producing  crops 
abundantly  by  means  of  irrigation.  (See  page  389.) 
The  great  majority  of  such  districts  are  so  situated 
that  they  can  draw  upon  the  inexhaustible  reservoirs 
of  water  derived  from  the  melting  snows  in  the 
mountains,  and  from  the  numerous  streams  that  flow 
from  the  latter.  Practical  irrigation  in  the  regions 
mentioned  is  as  yet  in  its  first  stages,  but  the  indica- 
tions are  that  it  will  lead  in  the  end  to  the  successful 
cultivation  of  vast  areas  of  the  public  lands  now  un- 
occupied, and  this  resource  of  the  Union  will  be  ren- 
dered still  more  available  for  the  people  at  large. 

Rainfall ;  its  Gradual  Increase. — A  very  striking 
feature  exists  in  relation  to  the  amount  of  rain  that 
falls  west  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian,  and  also  in 
respect  to  the  time  of  year  it  occurs.  As  found  by 
recorded  observations,  the  annual  rainfall  is  greater 
in  the  more  eastern  portions  of  the  Union  than  on 
the  plains  of  the  wheat  region  of  the  Northwest ;  yet 
in  the  former  the  far  greater  portion  of  the  rain 
comes  in  the  winter  and  the  early  spring,  before  it 


Increased  Rainfall.  513 

can  be  available  for  the  crops,  while  in  the  latter 
the  heaviest  rainfall  occurs  in  May  and  June,  when 
every  drop  is  available.  For  illustration,  "  the  rain- 
fall, as  shown  by  observations  at  the  United  States 
Signal  Station,  at  Huron,  South  Dakota,  has  steadily 
increased,  since  the  first  sod  in  the  vicinity  was 
turned  over."  A  dozen  years  before  1886  the  lands 
that  are  now  regarded  as  among  the  richest  in  that 
section  were  condemned  as  being  unfit  for  cultiva- 
tion. The  black  soil  in  this  region  runs  from  a  few 
inches  to  from  three  to  five  feet  in  depth,  every 
square  foot  of  which  is  more  rich  than  the  richest  in 
New  England.  (Condensed  from  Dakota,  pp.  12-21.) 

This  increased  rainfall  seems  to  be  the  result 
wherever  the  land  is  brought  under  cultivation. 
"  The  yearly  extension  of  the  rain  belt  westward  has 
been  very  apparent  during  the  past  few  years,  and 
of  which  due  advantage  has  been  taken  by  extreme 
Western  settlers.  Lands  which  five  years  ago  (1879) 
had  only  a  scanty  covering  of  buffalo-grass,  the  soil 
baked  by  the  hot  suns  of  summer,  are  now  sending 
up  a  growth  of  blue-stem  and  other  strong  native 
grasses,  which  will  shade  the  soil.  This  is  due  to 
increased  rains."  In  Nebraska  are  lands,  three  hun- 
dred miles  west  of  the  Missouri  River,  that  have 
been  hitherto  regarded  as  worthless  for  agricultu- 
ral purposes,  but  which  to-day  (1887)  are  produc- 
ing fine  crops  of  wheat,  oats,  rye,  barley,  and  Indian 
corn. 

The  Reason  of  the  Increased  Rain. — The  ques- 
34 


514  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

tion  may  be  asked,  What  is  the  cause  of  this  increase 
of  moisture?  The  most  reasonable  solution  is  that 
rain  follows  the  plow  ;  as  the  soil  is  turned  over,  the 
rain-water,  instead  of  running  off  as  formerly  from 
the  unbroken  prairie,  penetrates  the  soil  and  is  there 
held  until  gradually  given  back  to  the  atmosphere 
by  evaporation.  Prof.  Aughey,  of  the  State  Univer- 
sity of  Nebraska,  has  shown  by  a  series  of  experi- 
ments that  equal  areas  of  the  surface-soil,  and  of 
equal  depth  within  the  earth,  and  which  were  taken 
up  immediately  after  a  rain,  from  a  plowed  field  and 
also  from  the  unbroken  prairie  a  few  yards  distant, 
the  former  retained  eight  ninths  more  water  than  the 
latter.  The  equal  quantities  of  earth  thus  taken  up 
were  weighed,  and,  after  being  subjected  to  the  same 
process  of  drying  in  order  to  evaporate  their  moist- 
ure, were  again  weighed,  and  the  difference  ascer- 
tained. 

The  yearly  increase  of  rainfall  is  extending  west- 
ward wherever  the  prairie  is  brought  under  cultiva- 
tion, and  intelligent  personsvon  the  ground,  and  who 
have  studied  the  subject,  believe  that  the  entire 
slope  from  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  east- 
ward will  yet  be  used  for  pasturage  or  for  agricult- 
ural purposes ;  in  confirmation  of  which  belief  is 
adduced  the  fact  that  along  the  route  once  traveled 
by  thousands  to  Pike's  Peak,  over  what  then  ap- 
peared as  a  desert  of  sand,  cactus,  and  sage-brush, 
and  which  Horace  Greeley,  who  in  1859  passed  over 
it  for  ninety  miles,  characterized  as  "  the  acme  of 


Homesteads  obtained.  515 

barrenness  and  desolation,"  is  now  a  farming  and 
pastoral  region.  Moreover,  this  whole  territory  is 
underlaid  by  an  abundant  supply  of  pure,  fresh  water 
that  can  be  reached  by  ordinary  wells  or  by  artesian. 
(Nebraska  Resources,  1885,  pp.  24.,  25.)  The  water  in 
these  underground  reservoirs  that  can  be  tapped  by 
wells  will  in  the  future  be  indefinitely  increased  in 
quantity,  as  the  surface  becomes  cultivated,  thus  giv- 
ing freer  access  for  the  water  to  penetrate  the  earth. 
We  have  seen,  by  Prof.  Aughey's  experiments,  that, 
from  the  matted  surface  of  the  unbroken  prairie, 
eight  ninths  of  the  rain-water  ran  off,  and  only  one 
ninth  was  retained. 

These  results  and  experiments  in  relation  to  the 
increased  rainfall  in  certain  regions,  and  in  others 
the  facilities  for  the  necessary  irrigation  in  order  to 
produce  crops  abundantly,  are  but  the  forerunners 
of  still  greater  agricultural  and  pastoral  success  and 
blessing  to  coming  generations. 

How  Homesteads  are  obtained. — It  is  fitting,  in 
closing  a  narrative  of  the  Natural  Resources  of  the 
Union,  to  show  under  what  conditions  portions  of 
one  of  these,  the  unoccupied  lands,  may  become 
available  to  those  who  desire  to  own  a  farm  and  a 
home.  That  beneficent  act,  the  homestead  law, 
after  being  bitterly  opposed  for  a  number  of  years  in 
Congress,  finally  was  passed,  and,  receiving  the  sig- 
nature of  Abraham  Lincoln,  went  into  effect  on  Jan- 
uary i,  1863.  This  law  provides  that  any  settler 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  male  or  female,  the  head  of 


516  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

a  family,  "  on  payment  of  ten  dollars  "  —  to  cover 
expenses  of  survey — "  he  or  she  shall  thereupon  be 
permitted  to  enter  a  quarter-section  of  unoccupied 
land  "  (one  hundred  and  sixty  acres).  It  is  also  pro- 
vided that  persons  of  foreign  birth  may  enter  home- 
steads, "  provided  the  immigrant  be  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  or  has  declared  his  intention  to  be- 
come such."  In  order  to  aid  the  worthy  landless 
still  further,  the  law  provides  that  "  this  homestead 
shall  not  in  any  event  become  liable  to  the  satisfaction 
of  any  debt  or  debts  contracted  prior  to  the  issuing 
of  the  patent  therefor."  If  the  settler  occupies  the 
land  in  good  faith,  and  improves  and  cultivates  it  for 
five  years,  on  evidence  of  which  compliance  with  the 
law,  the  United  States  Government  gives  him  a  title 
in  fee ;  previous  to  the  giving  of  this  title,  the  home- 
stead is  free  from  taxation.  The  law  makes  provision 
also  that,  in  case  of  the  death  of  the  settler  before 
the  expiration  of  the  five  years,  the  homestead  is  se- 
cured to  his  or  her  heirs. 

Land-Grants  and  Railroads. — In  order  to  facili- 
tate access  to  these  unoccupied  lands  and  make  them 
available  for  settlers,  the  National  Government,  in 
connection  with  the  homestead  law,  made  grants  of 
land  to  corporations,  which  were  pledged  under  cer- 
tain conditions  to  build  railways  through  these  lands 
and  across  the  continent.  Three  such  roads  have 
been  built  under  this  provision,  and  have  thus  aided 
in  extending  a  line  of  settlements  from  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  Pacific.  Where  the  roads  passed 


The  Immense  Advantages.  517 

through  States  that  had  public  lands  within  their 
boundaries,  the  grants  were  ten  miles  wide  on  either 
side  of  the  road,  but  within  the  Territories  they  were 
twenty.  Owing  to  the  nearness  of  the  railways,  the 
public  lands  within  these  grants  were  estimated  at 
twice  the  money-value  of  those  outside ;  hence,  with- 
in these,  the  settler  received  as  a  homestead  only 
eighty  acres,  and  the  land  to  be  sold  was  held  at  two 
dollars  and  a  half  an  acre.  By  this  arrangement, 
neither  the  Government,  nor  the  people  whom  it 
represents,  lost  anything  by  grants  of  lands  to  these 
railways — a  fact  but  little  noticed,  though  worthy 
of  remembrance.  Homesteads  are  also  attainable 
under  the  conditions  of  the  timber-culture  act,  and 
under  the  pre-emption  law  ;  the  latter  gives  the  first 
settler,  in  preference  to  others,  the  right  to  purchase 
the  land  that  he  is  occupying.  The  latter  law  has 
also  been  of  great  benefit  to  the  settlers  of  limited 
means.  The  immense  advantages  derived  directly 
from  the  railroads  that  were  built  by  means  of  funds 
based  financially  on  these  land-grants  are  not  limited 
to  the  homesteaders  alone,  but  also  include  all  those 
who  have  settled  within  the  grants,  and  purchased 
their  farms  from  the  railway  corporations,  as  well  as 
indirectly  to  the  Nation  at  large. 

The  Government  surveys  the  land  and  divides  it 
into  sections,  or  square  miles,  each  containing  640 
acres,  and  also  into  quarter-sections,  of  160,  and 
eighths  of  80  acres.  A  township  constitutes  thirty- 
six  sections  or  square  miles,  and  for  the  support  of 


518  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

schools,  when  the  Territory  becomes  a  State,  the 
first  and  the  thirty-sixth  sections  are  reserved  from 
sale  or  gift.  If  the  land  is  within  a  railroad-grant 
the  remaining  thirty-four  sections  are  divided  evenly 
between  the  railroad  and  the  Government.  The  rail- 
way corporations  sell  their  lands  on  very  liberal 
terms ;  as  a  rule,  the  payments  being  so  arranged 
that  the  prudent  and  industrious  purchaser  can  in  a 
few  years  own  his  farm  free  from  debt. 

Results  of  the  Homestead  Law. — From  the  an- 
nual reports  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  we  ob- 
tain a  partial  view  of  the  results  secured  under  this 
beneficent  law,  during  twenty-three  years  (1863-1886). 
There  were  given  in  homestead-grants  in  those  years, 
in  round  numbers,  112,000,000  acres,  equal  to  175,000 
square  miles.  In  the  ordinary  enumeration  of  the 
area  of  the  States  are  included  the  surface  area  of 
the  rivers  and  lakes  and  the  ocean  shore-line  three 
miles  out;  but  these  areas  are  not  reckoned  in  the 
surveys  of  land  for  homesteads,  and  therefore,  in 
making  a  proper  comparison  of  areas,  such  surface 
should  be  deducted.  The  area  thus  occupied  in  free 
farms,  during  these  twenty-three  years,  is  equal  to 
the  combined  area  of  all  the  New  England  States, 
of  New  York,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  Maryland, 
after  deducting  from  the  latter  their  water  surface, 
estimated  at  10,000  square  miles.  In  respect  to  the 
amount  of  land  given  for  each  homestead — those 
within  the  railroad-grants  being  80  acres,  and  those 
without  1 60 — the  average  rate  is,  according  to  the 


Enlightened  Statesmanship.  519 

Interior  Department,  120  acres;  this  gives  933,333 
households  on  free  farms,  and  that  gives,  on  an  av- 
erage, five  persons  to  each  household,  a  population 
in  round  numbers  of  about  5,000,000  living  on  home- 
stead lands.  There  are  also,  in  addition,  large  num- 
bers of  citizens  dwelling  within  the  same  territory 
who  have  been  induced  to  migrate  thither  because 
of  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  railways,  and  who 
have  purchased  lands  either  from  the  Government 
or  from  the  corporations  of  the  railroads.  Let  it 
be  remembered  that  to-day  (1887),  on  these  original 
homestead  lands,  are  numerous  villages  and  cities, 
ranging  in  population  from  100  up  to  12,000.  Such 
is  the  outgrowth  of  the  humane  and  enlightened 
statesmanship  that  enacted  the  homestead  law,  and 
in  that  connection  projected  railways  to  penetrate 
these  unoccupied  and  remarkably  fertile  lands, 
which  were  then  useless  to  the  people,  because  of 
their  distance  and  inaccessibility.  The  object  of  the 
National  Government  was  to  bring  these  lands  within 
reach  of  the  older  and  more  densely  populated  por- 
tions of  the  Union ;  to  afford  an  opportunity,  for 
those  who  wished,  to  secure  farms  and  homes ;  and 
at  the  same  time,  also,  to  promote  the  growth  across 
the  continent  of  settlements  composed  of  industrious 
and  moral  citizens.  There  is  still  an  abundance  of 
more  or  less  fertile  public  lands  waiting  to  be  occu- 
pied. They  may  not  all  lie  directly  upon  the  three 
main  railways  to  the  Pacific,  or  on  their  connections, 
of  which  there  are  already  about  seven.  There  is 


520  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 

scarcely  a  doubt  that  a  few  years  will  see  that  en- 
tire region  accessible  by  means  of  branch  railroads, 
especially  if  within  it  are  formed  settlements.  It  is, 
however,  essential  for  those  who  desire  homesteads 
to  go  where  the  public  lands  are  located,  as  they  are 
not  to  be  had  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cities. 

History  records  no  legislative  enactment  equal  to 
the  homestead  law  in  its  humane  provisions,  and 
in  the  judicious  introduction  of  proper  means  to 
make  these  unoccupied  lands  available  for  the  land- 
less. This  law,  in  its  effect,  has  already  conferred 
on  millions  of  men,  women,  and  children  numberless 
substantial  benefits,  lasting  in  their  nature,  and  des- 
tined to  increase  in  importance  from  generation  to 
generation. 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX. 


Abrasive  materials,  297-303. 

Agates,  265. 

Aiken  (health-resort),  339. 

Alabaster,  471,  472. 

Alfalfa-grass,  or  Chilian  clover,  437. 

Almaden,  New  (quicksilver-mine), 
189. 

Alum,  249  ;  native  sources  of,  250  ; 
rock  deposit  of,  252. 

Aluminum,  251  ;  uses  and  value, 
252. 

Amazon-stone,  267. 

Amethyst,  264. 

Animal  remains  in  coal,  65  ;  and  as 
a  fertilizer,  465. 

Anthracite  (coal),  how  formed,  19  ; 
Virginia,  23  ;  Pennsylvania  area, 
28,  29,  33-39 ;  lignite,  90. 

Antimony,  245-247  ;  its  uses,  245. 

Apple,  the,  439  ;  belt,  440. 

Appleseed,  Johnny,  441. 

Arsenic,  and  uses,  249. 

Asbestus,  257,  258. 

Asheville  (health-resort),  340. 

Ash  (tree),  420. 

Asphalt,  or  Albertite,  60,  87,  99, 114. 

Aughey,  Prof.,  experiments  on  in- 
creased rainfall,  514,  515. 

"  Bad-lands  "  of  Dakota,  385. 
Barracuda,  the  (fish),  485. 


Basin,  the  Great,  166  ;  where  coal 

was  formed,   18 ;  how  obtained, 

51,  81. 
Berries,  wild,  for  birds  of  passage, 

458  ;  Northern,  459  ;  the  Lawton, 

460. 

Beryl  and  emerald,  261. 
Bessemer  process  of  making  steel, 

150-153. 

Bismuth,  247,  248. 

Bitumen,  57. 

Borax,  318. 

Bromine,  317. 

Broom-corn,  412. 

Buhr-stone,  298. 

Building-stones,  276-289  ;  blue, 
287  ;  whose  base  is  lime,  marble, 
277,  283,  285,  286  ;  sandstones, 
278  ;  brown-stone,  286,  287.  (See 
Granite.) 

Caiiaigre,  427. 

Canneries  of  salmon,  486  ;  fish,  488  ; 

oysters,  494. 
Carbon  and  ferns,  82. 
Carboniferous  age,  n,  12,  53,  77, 

81,  83  ;    extent  and  value  of  its 

coal,  78  ;  Cretaceous  or  Tertiary, 

80. 

Cedar  (famed  Florida),  423. 
Cement,  274. 


522  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 


Chalcedony,  265. 

Chestnut  (tree),  419. 

Chromium  or  chrome,  236. 

Clams.     (See  Oysters.) 

Clays,  268-273  I  fire»  298,  269 ;  of 

Mississippi  Valley,  271 ;    Rocky 

Mountain,  272. 
Climate,  Northwest,  369-377  ;  coast, 

372  ;  interior,  376. 
Clover,  white,  red,  430. 
Coal,  value  of,  10  ;  cannel,  60,  65, 

79  ;  block,  65-69  ;  utilized,  68. 
Coal-ferns  (ILLUSTRATED),  13,  15, 

44- 

Coal-fields  (anthracite),  Schuylkill, 
33,  34  ;  middle,  36  ;  Lehigh,  37  ; 
Wyoming  and  Lackawanna,  38, 

39- 

Coal,  semi-bituminous  (fields  or  ba- 
sins), Blossburg  and  Broad  Top, 
43  ;  Johnstown,  45  ;  Cumberland, 
46,  47. 

Coal,  bituminous  (minor),  fields, 
New  England,  21  ;  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  22,  23 ;  Deep 
River,  25  ;  New  River,  25. 

Coal,  bituminous,  Alleghany,  coal- 
field, 48-65  ;  Alabama,  62  ;  Geor- 
gia, 63  ;  Kentucky,  eastern,  60 ; 
Ohio,  64  ;  Pittsburg  seam,  or  field, 
52-59  ;  West  Virginia,  61,  62. 

Coal,  central,  field,  66-78  ;  Arkan- 
sas, 76  ;  Indiana,  66,  67  ;  Illinois, 
69  ;  Iowa,  72  ;  Kansas,  74  ;  Ken- 
tucky, western,  70;  Michigan, 
71  ;  Missouri,  73  ;  Nebraska,  75  ; 
Texas,  77. 

Coal,  lignite  or  brown,  80-91 ;  char- 
acteristics, 82,  95  ;  spontaneous 
combustion,  89,  99 ;  area  of  lig- 
nite, 83  ;  Arizona,  field,  90,  91  ; 
Colorado,  88  ;  Dakota  and  Mon- 
tana, 83  ;  New  Mexico,  89  ;  Utah, 


89  ;  Wyoming,  84  ;  Pacific  slope 
coal-fields,  92-97  ;  Alaska,  field, 
96 ;  California  (Mount  Diablo), 
92,  93  ;  Coos  Bay,  Oregon,  94  ; 
Washington  Territory,  95. 

Coal,  Dominion  of  Canada,  98-101  ; 
coal  of  the  Northwest,  98  ;  Nova 
Scotia,  99;  Pictou,  TOO;  Sydney, 
101. 

Coal  of  the  United  States  compared 
with  that  of  Europe,  102-107  ; 
coal  areas,  102 ;  special  compari- 
son, 103  ;  horizontal  seams  and 
dip,  105  ;  how  long  will  the  coal 
last?  1 06. 

Coal-strata  (ILLUSTRATED),  18,  35, 
50,  70,  87. 

Coast-line,  5-9  ;  comparison  of,  6 ; 
United  States  Survey,  7. 

Cobalt  and  nickel,  242,  243. 

Coke,  56-59  ;  two  questions  on,  57  ; 
its  excellence,  58. 

Compensation,  the,  derived  from 
the  Atlantic  Equatorial  current, 

354- 

Comstock  lode,  177,  178. 
Conte,  Le,  Prof.,  12,  17,  19. 
Continents  compared,  364. 
Copper,    193-210 ;   universality   of, 

194  ;  on  Atlantic  slope,  194-197  ; 

fever,  the,  198  ;  process  of  min- 
ing, 201-203. 

Corundum  and  emery,  297. 
Cotton,  area,  406  ;  grades  of,  407. 
Covington  (health-resort),  338. 
Crops,    extent   of,   compared,    401, 

402. 
Currents,  ocean  and  air,  350,  351  ; 

Gulf    Stream,    origin    of,    351  ; 

Japan,  origin  of,  369. 

Dana,  Prof.,  109. 
Dennison,  Dr.,  343,  454. 


Analytical  Index. 


523 


Deserts,  comparative  absence  of, 
366  ;  Great  American,  367. 

Diamonds,  260. 

Discovery  of  anthracite  coal,  29 ; 
of  lignite,  85  ;  of  grass,  proper- 
ties, 387  ;  of  cod,  479. 

Ducks,  canvas-back,  504 ;  their  mi- 
grations, 505-507. 

Emerald  and  beryl,  261. 

Emery  and  corundum,  297. 

Encaustic  tiles,  271. 

Enterprise    in    mining    anthracite, 

39- 

Erosion,  process  of,  50. 
Etta  tin-mine,  232. 
Evaporation,  the  immense,  355. 
Explorers  arid  tourists,  mistakes  of, 

384- 

Farms,  large  or  small,  399. 

Fell's,  Judge,  experiment,  31. 

Ferns  (coal),  their  mission,  15  ;  in 
the  Arctic  regions,  17;  main 
source  of  carbon,  57,  82. 

Fertilizers,  464-477 ;  importance 
of,  476. 

Fibers,  406-409. 

Fish,  fresh-water,  488 ;  fish-culture, 
489. 

Fisheries,  their  localities,  481  ;  fish- 
ing area,  479. 

Flax,  408  ;  valley  of  the  Willamette, 
409. 

Forests  of  the  Carboniferous  age, 
13-17  ;  of  our  time,  414. 

Fur-bearing  seal,  498-502  ;  efforts 
to  preserve  them,  499  ;  their  pe- 
culiarities, 500. 

Game,    wild,    animals    and    birds, 

502-507. 
Garnets,  263. 


Gas    (natural),    115-119;   utilizing 

of,  116  ;  where  found,  118. 
Generations,  future,  duties  due  to, 

158. 

Gilroy  Hot  Springs,  334. 
Glass  materials,  273. 
Gold,  160-175  5  Atlantic  slope,  on, 

161-194 ;     California,    164-170  ; 

Territories,  170-175. 
Granby  lead-mines,  216. 
Granite,  276,  279,  280-282. 
Grape,  452-456 ;  special  belt,  453, 

454- 

Graphite,  or  plumbago,  304-307  ; 
where  found,  305. 

Grasses,  native,  387,  429-438  ;  va- 
rieties, 430,  434,  435. 

Greeley,  Horace,  opinion  of  sage- 
brush land,  514. 

Green-turtle  fishery,  495. 

Grindstones,  300,  301. 

Guyot,  Prof.,  19,  51,  354,  355,  361. 

Gypsum,  a  fertilizer,  470-476 ; 
where  found,  472  ;  for  building 
purposes,  285. 

Halibut,  480,  485,  487. 

Health-resorts,  336-347  ;  east  of  the 
Alleghanies,  337-340  ;  west,  341  ; 
Rocky  Mountain,  342,  346 ;  Pa- 
cific slope,  344,  345. 

Hemp,  407. 

Herring,  483,  485. 

Hickory,  419. 

Hiddenite,  261,  262. 

Homesteads,  how  obtained,  515  ; 
results  of  the  law,  518. 

Hops,  411. 

Ice,  utility  of,  480. 

Incidents  in  finding  coal,  30,  84, 
85  ;  its  sale,  31  ;  the  open  letter 
of  a  United  States  general,  367. 


524  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 


Indian-corn,  its  area,  400 ;  utility, 
402. 

Iridium,  its  uses,  240,  241. 

Irrigation,  389-394  ;  water  supplied 
and  mode,  390,  391  ;  effects  pro- 
duced, 392  ;  suggestions,  of  the 
Interior  Department,  394. 

Iron-ores,  120-147  \  New  England 
iron-ores,  122  ;  iron-ore  belts, 
123 ;  Alabama,  131  ;  Arkansas, 
142  ;  Georgia,  131  ;  Kentucky, 
132  ;  Michigan,  236  ;  Minnesota, 
138  ;  Missouri,  139  ;  Pilot  Knob, 
141 ;  Iron  Mountain,  140  ;  Ohio, 
Mahoning  Valley,  136 ;  North 
Carolina,  128  ;  New  Jersey,  126  ; 
New  York,  125  ;  New  Mexico, 
142  ;  Pennsylvania,  126  ;  east 
Tennessee,  129  ;  Virginia,  127  ; 
West  Virginia,  133  ;  Wisconsin, 
138  ;  Johnstown,  134 ;  Chestnut 
Ridge,  135. 

Iron-ores,  Western  iron-ores,  Cali- 
fornia, 146 ;  Colorado,  140  ;  Ore- 
gon, 146  ;  Utah,  144 ;  Washing- 
ton Territory,  147  ;  Wyoming, 

145- 

Iron,  observations  on,  148  ;  change 
in,  149. 

Jade,  266. 
Jasper,  266. 
Jet,  267. 
Jute,  407. 

Kaolin,  270-272. 

Kavenal,  Dr.  St.  Julien,  the  first  to 
analyze  phosphate  rock,  467,  468. 

Land  resources,  511 ;  the  great 
plains,  512  ;  grants  to  railways, 
516;  Government  lost  nothing 
thereby,  517. 


Lead,  211-220;  o'n  the  Atlantic 
slope,  211,  212  ;  in  the  West,  Il- 
linois, Iowa,  Wisconsin,  213  ; 
mining,  213  ;  Kansas  and  Mis- 
souri (the  ore  allied  with  zinc), 
215,  216  ;  how  discovered,  215  ; 
New  Mexico  and  Arizonia,  217  ; 
Rocky  Mountain  lead,  allied  with 
silver,  217  ;  Colorado  and  Utah, 
218  ;  Idaho  and  Montana,  219  ; 
demands  for,  220. 

Lignite.  (See  under  heading  of 
Coal.) 

Lime  and  cement,  274  ;  limestone 
almost  universal,  275. 

Lithographic  stone,  303. 

Lobsters,  491. 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  54. 

Mackerel,  480 ;  Spanish,  482,  485. 
Mammoth  seam  of  coal,  35. 
Manganese,  153  ;  discovery  of,  154  ; 

Pacific    slope,    156 ;    ferro-man- 

ganese   compared  with    spiegel- 

iron,  157,  158. 
Manitou  Springs,  332. 
Marble,  277  ;  fine  grades,  291-296  ; 

Southern,  292. 
Marl,  465-467,  470. 
Melon,  the,  461. 
Mica,  253-257  ;  where  found,  254  ; 

Rocky  Mountain,  256. 
Mining,  liberal  laws  of,  179  ;  beach, 

167  ;  placer,  168,  175,  231  (tin) ; 

quartz,  169  ;  its  outlook,  170. 
Mississippi  River,  beginning  of,  51. 
Mound-builders'  use  of  copper,  199  ; 

of  lead,  214. 
Mountains,  utility  of,  4  ;  direction 

°f»    365 ;    Rockies    and    Andes, 

compared,  368. 

Movements,  internal,  18,  20  ;  paral- 
lel, 28. 


Analytical  Index. 


525 


Nations,  maritime,  5. 
Newberry,  Prof.  J.  S.,  49,  82,  go,  96. 
Nickel  and  cobalt,  241  ;  uses,  242  ; 
deposits  of,  243,  244. 

Ocean  resources,  478-497. 

Ohio  River,  its  lower  bed,  48  ;  trib- 
utaries, 49. 

Obsidian,  263. 

Opal,  266. 

Open  letter,  the,  of  a  United  States 
officer,  367. 

Orange,  446-450. 

Orchard  fruits,  439-451. 

Orton,  Prof.,  357. 

Oysters  and  clams,  490 ;  in  Long 
Island  Sound,  492  ;  Chesapeake 
Bay,  493  ;  the  Gulf,  495  ;  North- 
west, 495. 

Palmetto  (fiber),  408. 

Panoramic  view,  2,  3. 

Peach  area,  442-444. 

Peanut  and  pecan,  410,  415. 

Pears  and  plums,  445,  446. 

Peppermint,  412. 

Petroleum,  108-114  ;  its  origin,  109  ; 

where  found,  110-114. 
Phosphate-rock,  467-469. 
Pine,  the  Northern,  420-422  ;  the 

Southern,  424-426. 
Platinum,  238,  239. 
Pomeroy,    J.  P.  (scientific    miner), 

163. 
Porcelain,  American,  character  of, 

273. 

Potato  area,  410. 
Precious  stones,  259-267. 

Quicksilver,  or  mercury,  189-192  ; 
mine,  how  operated,  190 ;  effect 
on  gold-mining,  191  ;  the  trade, 
192. 

Quince,  446. 

35 


Rainfall,  sources  of,  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  354-360  ;  the  vapor 
carried,  357  ;  the  Gulf  as  a  source 
of,  358  ;  average  of,  compared 
with  that  of  Europe,  382  ;  and 
temperature,  380  ;  on  the  Pacific 
slope,  381  ;  annual  average  at 
the  territorial  center,  383. 

Raisins,  456. 

Ramie,  408. 

Red  snapper,  484. 

Rice  area  and  culture,  403. 

Rubies  and  sapphires,  262. 

Salmon    in    the    Columbia,     486 ; 

"  king"  in  the  Yukon,  488. 
Salt,  308-317  ;  saltpeter,  321. 
Salt-rock,  309,  312,  315. 
Sapphires  and  rubies,  262. 
Saratoga  Springs,  326. 
Scuppernong,  the,  452,  455. 
Seams  of  coal,  described,  34  ;  the 

Mammoth,  35  ;  the  Pittsburg,  52- 

54 ;  Coal  Ridge,  86. 
Serpentine  (jeweler's),  265  ;  as  green 

marble,  292. 
Shad,  the,  482,  483. 
Shell-fish,  489. 
Shoals,  St.  George's,  480. 
Silver,    176-188  ;    its   universality, 

176  ;  Leadville,  180  ;  Arizona  and 

New  Mexico,  181,  186  ;  the  four 

Territories,  187. 
Slates,  289,  290. 
Speculators,  32. 
Spiegel-iron,  157,  158. 
Springs,  mineral  or  medicinal,  325- 

335- 
Sugar   area,  404,   405  ;   the   cane, 

the  beet,  and  sorghum,  404,  405  ; 

maple,  419. 
Sulphur,  323. 
Sutro  Tunnel,  179. 


526  Natural  Resources  of  the  United  States. 


Tabulated  summary,  521-523. 

Tan-bark,  426. 

Temperatures  compared,  374-376. 

Timber,  413-428. 

Timothy  (grass),  430. 

Tin,  226-235  ;  h°w  extracted,  233. 

Tobacco  area,  409. 

Tombstone  (silver-mines),  183,  184. 

Topaz,  262. 

Tourmaline,  263. 

Trade-winds   deflected  northward, 

357- 

Trees,  middle  belt,  418  ;  Northern, 
420  ;  Southern,  422  ;  varieties, 

423. 

Turkey,  the,  503. 
Turquoise,  267. 

Valleys,  river,  compared,  362,  363  ; 
Mississippi,  its  value,  378  ;  rain- 
fall and  temperature,  380;  cen- 


ters of  population  and  of  terri- 
tory, 380,  383. 

Vegetation,  peculiar,  12. 

Vineyards,  locations  of,  455,  456. 

Walnut  (tree),  420. 

Water-power,  508-510. 

Water-shed  of  the  Ohio,  49. 

WTheat-belt,  395  ;  the  Northern, 
396 ;  its  adaptabilities,  396  ;  ef- 
fect of  sunlight,  397  ;  the  latter's 
long  continuance,  398. 

Whetstones,  302. 

Winds,  Arctic,  course  of,  360; 
trade,  357. 

Wines,  457. 

Wood,  specimens  collected,  417. 

Yellowstone  Park  (health-resort), 
346. 

Zinc,  211-225. 


THE  END. 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA.  A  Study  of 
•*  the  American  Commonwealth,  its  Natural  Resources,  People, 
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EDWARD  ATKINSON,  LL.  D.,  Ph.  D. 
COL.  T.  A.   DODGE,  U.  S.  A. 
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J.  B.  McMASTER,  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
CHARLES  DUDLEY  WARNER,  LL.  D. 
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WILLIAM  T.  HARRIS,  LL.  D.,   United  States  Commissioner  of  Education. 
LYMAN  ABBOTT,  D.  D. 

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HENRY  VAN   BRUNT. 
H.   P.  FAIRFIELD. 

SAMUEL  W.  ABBOTT,  M.  D.,  Secretary  State  Board  of  Health,  Massachusetts. 
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BEGINNERS  OF  A  NA  TION.  A  History  of 
the  Source  and  Rise  of  the  Earliest  English  Settlements  in 
America,  with  Special  Reference  to  the  Life  and  Character  of 
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